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Ralph Raico, a student of Ludwig von Mises, was a historical revisionist in the best sense of the word. He cared not for ideological pedigrees or bias; he sought the grace of truth wherever it took him.
In The Struggle for Liberty, readers will find a wide-ranging look at the history of the West, which draws upon ideological trends that began in late antiquity and developed in the Middle Ages. Raico highlights important characteristics of Western history, such as the tension between secular power and church power and how this fostered political decentralization and economic development in the West.
Raico outlines how the laissez-faire liberals led the fight against absolutism in the seventeenth century and how they revolutionized European and American politics in the eighteenth century. He goes on to cover in detail the works and insights of the radical liberals in the nineteenth century who won important battles against protectionism, socialism, imperialism, and militarism.
Modern readers looking to broaden their knowledge of political history beyond the usual, often-repeated narratives will likely find many refreshing new details here. Beginners may also find this book to be a fruitful starting point for studying the history of Western political thought.
Adapted from ten lectures delivered in 2004, this newly edited text includes hundreds of footnotes allowing historians and other scholars to examine the lectures' source material in a way that has not been possible before.
Ralph Raico
Ralph Raico (1936–2016) was professor emeritus in European history at Buffalo State College and a senior fellow of the Mises Institute. He was a specialist on the history of liberty, the liberal tradition in Europe, and the relationship between war and the rise of the state. He is the author of The Place of Religion in the Liberal Philosophy of Constant, Tocqueville, and Lord Acton.
A bibliography of Ralph Raico’s work, compiled by Tyler Kubik, is found here.