A Tolerable Anarchy: Rebels, Reactionaries, and the Making of American Freedom

In A Tolerable Anarchy, Jedediah Purdy traces the history of the American understanding of freedom, an ideal that has inspired the country's best--and worst--moments, from independence and emancipation to war and economic uncertainty. Working from portraits of famous American lives, like Frederick Douglas and Ralph Waldo Emerson, Purdy asks crucial questions about our relationship to liberty: Does capitalism perfect or destroy freedom? Does freedom mean following tradition, God's word, or one's own heart? Can a nation of individuals also be a community of citizens? This is history that speaks plainly to our lives today, urging readers to explore our understanding of our country and ourselves, and a provocative look at one of America's cherished principles.

Author: Jedediah Purdy
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 03/09/2010
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.96h x 5.52w x 0.65d
ISBN: 9781400095841

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 03/28/2010 pg. 22

About the Author
Jedediah Purdy teaches law at Duke University and has also taught at Yale and Harvard. Purdy is the author of For Common Things: Irony, Trust, and Commitment in America Today and Being America: Liberty, Commerce, and Violence in an American World, and has written for The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, Democracy, and other publications.