This book tells the story of freedom and explains how it is a uniquely 'British'
, rather than 'Western', invention. It shows how the inhabitants of a damp islan
d at the western tip of the Eurasian landmass stumbled upon the extraordinary id
ea that the state was the servant, and not the master, of the individual. This r
evolutionary concept created security of property and contract which, in turn, l
ed to industrialization and modern capitalism.
