The Reading Room

Two Concepts of Liberty, a Reading Room essay

On Two Concepts of Liberty

Michael Fowler

Isaiah Berlin drew a single distinction that organizes the whole modern argument about freedom, and once you have it, you hear it everywhere.

On Two Concepts of Liberty

Michael Fowler

Isaiah Berlin drew a single distinction that organizes the whole modern argument about freedom, and once you have it, you hear it everywhere.

The Road to Serfdom, a Reading Room essay

On The Road to Serfdom

Michael Fowler

Friedrich Hayek wrote The Road to Serfdom during the Second World War, and his argument was unwelcome to almost everyone who read it: that central economic planning, however well intended,...

On The Road to Serfdom

Michael Fowler

Friedrich Hayek wrote The Road to Serfdom during the Second World War, and his argument was unwelcome to almost everyone who read it: that central economic planning, however well intended,...

The Origins of Totalitarianism, a Reading Room essay

On The Origins of Totalitarianism

Michael Fowler

Hannah Arendt escaped the catastrophe and then spent her life explaining it.

On The Origins of Totalitarianism

Michael Fowler

Hannah Arendt escaped the catastrophe and then spent her life explaining it.

Up From Slavery, a Reading Room essay

On Up From Slavery

Michael Fowler

Up From Slavery is the other pole of the era's great argument, and it should be read against Du Bois, not instead of him. Booker T.

On Up From Slavery

Michael Fowler

Up From Slavery is the other pole of the era's great argument, and it should be read against Du Bois, not instead of him. Booker T.

The American Political Tradition, a Reading Room essay

On The American Political Tradition

Michael Fowler

Richard Hofstadter taught Americans to read their own founders without genuflecting.

On The American Political Tradition

Michael Fowler

Richard Hofstadter taught Americans to read their own founders without genuflecting.

The Power Broker, a Reading Room essay

On The Power Broker

Michael Fowler

The Power Broker is a book about how power actually works, studied at the level of a single unelected man who reshaped a city and was never once chosen by...

On The Power Broker

Michael Fowler

The Power Broker is a book about how power actually works, studied at the level of a single unelected man who reshaped a city and was never once chosen by...