Individualists

<p><b>A sweeping history of libertarian thought from radical anarchists to conservative defenders of the status quo</b> <p/>Libertarianism emerged in the mid-nineteenth century with an unwavering commitment to progressive causes from women's rights and the fight against slavery to anti-colonialism and Irish emancipation. Today this movement founded on the principle of individual liberty finds itself divided by both progressive and reactionary elements vying to claim it as their own. <i>The Individualists</i> is the untold story of a political doctrine continually reshaped by fierce internal tensions bold and eccentric personalities and shifting political circumstances. <p/>Matt Zwolinski and John Tomasi trace the history of libertarianism from its origins as a radical progressive ideology in the 1850s to its crisis of identity today. They examine the doctrine's evolution through six defining themes: private property skepticism of authority free markets individualism spontaneous order and individual liberty. They show how the movement took a turn toward conservativism during the Cold War when the dangers of communism at home and abroad came to dominate libertarian thinking. Zwolinski and Tomasi reveal a history that is wider more diverse and more contentious than many of us realize. <p/>A groundbreaking work of scholarship <i>The Individualists</i> uncovers the neglected roots of a movement that has championed the poor and marginalized since its founding but whose talk of equal liberty has often been bent to serve the interests of the rich and powerful.</p>