Freedom : A History

The Berlin Wall has been broken. Oppressive governments have fallen all across Eastern Europe.

The African National Congress has been legalized in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela has been released. Chile has returned freely to democracy. All over the world 1989 and 1990 have been truly epochal years in the growth of freedom.

This book traces the story of freedom and free societies throughout history.

Donald Treadgold, the former editor of "Slavic Review" and President of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies offer an overview.

Treadgold traces the development of freedom and of free societies from the earliest times until today, showing that an emphasis on social pluralism, on the rule of law, strong property rights, and on the value of the individual have traditionally led to constitutional government and finally to democracy.

He surveys the contributions of the ancient world, the Jews, the Greeks and the Romans, moves to a consideration of medieval European feudal institutions, and finally through to the evolution of the modern European and American constitutional systems to a consideration of the present state of freedom around the world today.