By Myra Jehlen (NHC Fellow, 1985–86) In exploring the origins and character of the American liberal tradition, Myra Jehlen begins with the proposition that the decisive factor that shaped the European settlers’ idea of “America” or the “American” was material rather than conceptual—it was the physical fact of the land. European settlers came to a continent on … Continued
Edited by Larry Eugene Jones (NHC Fellow, 1988–89) and Konrad H. Jarausch A critical re-examination by American, British and German historians of the history of German liberalism exploring the interconnections between liberal currents in culture, society, and politics. By focusing on local and regional developments, this collection also suggests that the failure of German liberalism … Continued
By Helena Rosenblatt (NHC Fellow, 2000–01) Professor Rosenblatt presents a study of Benjamin Constant's intellectual development into a founding father of modern liberalism, through a careful analysis of his evolving views on religion. Constant's life spanned the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, Napoleon's rise and rule, and the Bourbon Restoration. Rosenblatt analyzes Constant's key role in … Continued
By Jerzy Szacki (NHC Fellow, 1992–93) Szacki defines liberalism in an Eastern European context – in terms of its historical background, the lack of a liberal tradition in the region, and its incompatibility with the communist state.
By Jerzy Szacki (NHC Fellow, 1992–93) This study is devoted to recent developments in Central European (especially Polish) political thought, and concentrates on the emergence of liberal ideas, a subject largely neglected by Western observers. It provides a clear account of protoliberal and liberal thinking in Central Europe both before and after 1989, a critical … Continued
Edited by Rex Martin (NHC Fellow, 2004–05) and David A. Reidy John Rawlsis considered the most important theorist of justice in much of western Europe and the English-speaking world more generally. This volume examines Rawls’s theory of international justice as worked out in his last and perhaps most controversial book, The Law of Peoples. It contains … Continued
By Alan Brinkley (Trustee; NHC Fellow, 1988–89) The End of Reform is a study of ideas and of the people who shaped them: Franklin Roosevelt, Henry Wallace, Harold Ickes, Henry Morgenthau, Jesse Jones, Tommy Corcoran, Leon Henderson, Marriner Eccles, Thurman Arnold, Alvin Hansen. It chronicles a critical moment in the history of modern American politics, … Continued
By Bernard Semmel (NHC Fellow, 1986–87) In The Liberal Ideal and the Demons of Empire, noted historian Bernard Semmel traces the evolution of the ideas about imperialism and discusses four major schools of thought: the classical economists, the social theorists, the national economists, and the Marxists.
My humanities moment came in preparing to teach a course on the French Revolution. I am by training a Byzantinist and medievalist, but got my job as a world history teacher. To fill in the gap and also since I could read French, the acting department chair gave me the job of teaching the French … Continued