Liberalism

Reviews / Votes

Masterfully done: erudite, informative, and enlightening... If one wants to get an overview of partisan Liberalism from Catholic Emancipation to Brexit, one cannot do better. -- Gregory Conti, writing in History of European Ideas Jonathan Parry is uniquely qualified to write the history of Liberalism in Britain. Building on four decades of research and writing, in this tour de force, he delivers a pithy, original, and trenchant analysis of Liberal ideas and principles in political action over the past two hundred years. -- Anthony Howe, Emeritus Professor of Modern History, University of East Anglia Jonathan Parry's history of British Liberalism does something very few writers about Liberalism do. It takes seriously what British Liberals themselves think their politics is about: combatting excessive concentrations of power that corrupt government and oppress individuals. It is clear-eyed about Liberals' failures as well as their successes over the past two centuries and never hesitates to challenge cliches and misconceptions espoused by Liberalism's enemies and by some of its friends. -- David Howarth, Professor of Law and Public Policy, University of Cambridge, and former Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge (2005-10) Building on decades of research, Jonathan Parry delivers a compact and thought-provoking history of British Liberalism since the 1830s. Defining it as a practical political movement for liberty (more than an economic or primarily theoretical one), Parry offers a nuanced account of how British Liberals have fended for what they saw as the best balance for citizens' welfare across the local, national and international power arenas. In exposing Liberalism's challenges, shortcomings, but also successes, Parry emphasizes the party's profound capacity for resilience and reinvention till today. -- Stephanie Prevost, Senior Lecturer, Universite Paris Cite I enjoyed this breezy and unusually accurate history of the Liberal Party and the Liberal Democrats... (particularly) Parry's discussion of the relationship between philosophy and practice... arguing that Liberal leaders such as Lord John Russell, William Gladstone, David Lloyd George, Jo Grimond and Paddy Ashdown are better guides to political Liberalism than theoretical writers such as JS Mill or TH Green... politics has its own rationale, and politicians take up bodies of ideas for specific purposes, rather than allowing works of theory to set their policy agendas for them -- Jonathan Calder, writing in Liberator