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How To Be A Liberal

Ian Dunt

4.53 · Rating details · 249 ratings · 30 reviews

From Brexit Britain to Donald Trump's America, nationalists are launching an all-out assault on liberal values. In this groundbreaking new book, Ian Dunt tells the story of liberalism, from its birth in the fight against absolute monarchy to the modern-day resistance against the new populism.

In a soaring narrative that stretches from the battlefields of the English Civil W ...more

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Hardcover, 496 pages

Published May 2020 by Canbury Press

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Oct 04, 2020 Tom Richards rated it it was amazing

Ian Dunt has multiple personas: the sweary critic of Remainiacs and Twitter, lambasting Parliamentary dunces with choice invective (“brain like a piece of crumpled paper, spluttering out little scraps of bullshit”); the polemicist of politics.co.uk, destroying absurd political logic with withering put-downs (“It’s not just their brains that are small, but their hearts”); and the non-sweary but still biting political commentator on the TV. I was wondering which Ian Dunt would show up for this boo Ian Dunt has multiple personas: the sweary critic of Remainiacs and Twitter, lambasting Parliamentary dunces with choice invective (“brain like a piece of crumpled paper, spluttering out little scraps of bullshit”); the polemicist of politics.co.uk, destroying absurd political logic with withering put-downs (“It’s not just their brains that are small, but their hearts”); and the non-sweary but still biting political commentator on the TV. I was wondering which Ian Dunt would show up for this book.

And the answer is: none of the above. Although no swears were harmed in the making of this book, this is not the contemporary political commentary for which Dunt has made his name. In fact, he becomes by turns historian, philosopher, economist and sociologist as he charts the development of liberalism as a political ethos.

Starting with Descartes and the primacy of doubt, moving through the Levellers and their belief in an “innate freedom and propriety”, he performs an excellent comparative analysis of the “three revolutions”: the Glorious, the French, and the American. In particular, what went so wrong in France, where the popular uprising was followed swiftly by Robespierre’s Terror, and later by the tyrant Napoleon, while America’s original constitution is considered the founding document of a successful modern democracy? Dunt simplifies, but his answer is striking: America’s founders put individual liberty at the heart of the nation they created, while the French Republic owed too much to Rousseau’s idea of the ‘general will’, which denied individual rights. This theme, that of individual rights versus the general ‘will of the people’, underpins much of the book.

Developing his theme through the lesser-known figures of Benjamin Constant and Harriet Taylor Mill (given equal billing with John Stuart Mill, as Mill himself did), we come on to the chapter titled ‘Death’, where the ideals of liberalism are destroyed by the two new twentieth-century systems of government, communism and fascism. George Orwell was the first to realise, through his experiences in the Spanish civil war, that fascism and Stalinism were equivalent evils, which he fought against under the umbrella term ‘totalitarianism’. Each one promoted the power of the state over the value of the individual, and in each one this simple reversal of values led to the state brutally repressing the population and killing millions of its own citizens. Once again, when individual rights were denied, murderous regimes, and now on a modern industrial scale, were the result.

After WWII, the attitude of ‘never again’ resulted in a resurgence in liberal ideas. The Marshall Plan was an attempt by America to build strong liberal democracies in Europe, which contrasts with the vicious reparations demanded by the victorious powers after WWI. The EU grew from a determination to link the economies of the warring nations so tightly that war between them would become impossible. The competing visions of Keynes and Hayek were in fact both facets of liberalism: one emphasising freedom through low unemployment and the individual opportunities thereby created; and the other focusing on low inflation and freedom of choice for the individual consumer.

After some handy biographical cameos of Orwell and Isaiah Berlin, we see how the version of liberalism which came to dominate was that of Hayek and Friedman, with Reagan and Thatcher symbolising their victory in the 80s. Even Clinton and Blair, supposedly more left-leaning, did little to disturb the laissez-faire economic consensus. But the victory of unconstrained capitalism did not always safeguard the prosperity of individuals, and increased the fragility of the financial system. Dunt gives an excellent account of the global financial crisis of 2008 (incidentally laying a decent amount of the blame on the often-neglected conflicts of interest inherent in the business model of the ratings agencies), and describes how the resulting austerity fuelled the rise of populism, and ideological conflicts between people subscribing to different tribal identities, all over the world. He points out that opposition to the new nationalism is not automatically liberal: political organisations set up to represent particular interests can promote positions not supported by some of their members, and ideological Marxists subordinate individual interests to that of the group.

Dunt makes the case for a truly liberal opposition to the current rise of national populism. This book, by placing the development of liberalism in its historical context, and re-stating its key tenets in one place, is a valuable contribution to the fight. The rule of law, freedom of speech, separation of powers, the right to a fair trial, and above all, individual rights: these are not just abstract ideals, but are the guarantors of the way of life we hold dear. We will only realise how much we miss them when they are gone. ...more

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Aug 29, 2020 Tom Ives rated it it was amazing

Dunt in fine form. Informed and passionate. A call to think and call to arms to protect liberal ideas.

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Sep 19, 2020 Tim rated it it was amazing

Ian Dunt is an excellent writer and starts off the book with a summary of the development of liberalism, which though succinct, is comprehensive and incisive. His view that John Stuart Mill's work on liberty should be regarded as a join effort with Harriet Taylor is a refreshing (and I’m sure accurate) reassessment of their contribution - throughout the book he rightly refers to them jointly.

The latter part of the book examines the modern rise of populism and the challenge it poses to liberal de ...more

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Nov 11, 2020 Alja rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

An excellent exploration of liberalism that doesn't go easy on its failings and current challenges. I highly recommend you pick it up if you want to gain a wider historical context for the current political situation and better understand your own liberal perspective. ...more

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Dec 31, 2020 Alfonso rated it it was amazing

Ho divorato questo libro. Mi ha insegnato molto, fatto pensare, preoccupato, entusiasmato.
Mi ha fatto riflettere su quali siano i doni, i rischi, le sfide di una società liberale. E soprattutto ha richiamato l'impegno che ci è richiesto per promuovere e conservare una società aperta, solidale, rispettosa di ogni singola persona.

Quanto ci racconta e ricorda Ian Dunt rappresenta una call to action alla quale non possiamo sottrarci. ...more

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Dec 13, 2020 Andy Gray rated it it was amazing

Details of historical events and movements I just didn’t know about, combined with analysis and commentary of modern situations I didn’t fully understand, all contained in an accessible work.
I think I might be a better person going forward for reading this - I’ll certainly be much more aware, in so many areas.

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Nov 16, 2020 Sue Chant rated it really liked it

Shelves: politics

Charting the history and development of liberal ideals from Descartes onwards this book also delineates the many enemies of liberal thought, including communism, fascism, nationalism, and identity politics. It shows how those enemy ideologies seek to homogenize - "the will of the people" - and tribalize - anyone who disagrees is shouted down rather than engaged in debate. To be honest, the last couple of chapters covering the extreme nationalism and outright lies of politics in recent days left ...more

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Feb 17, 2021 Maria rated it it was amazing

I loved this book. Threaded together various ideas and events I had vaguely learned about through school, university with topics from today’s world and made me see the connections between them. Clear, easy style. Definitely recommend. (Also if you are on Twitter, follow Ian live tweeting from parliamentary debate, v entertaining!)

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Dec 14, 2020 Mark rated it liked it

Five phrase review.
broad-brush
selective
interesting
very eurocentric and western focussed
That thing when you think the biggest problem in the world is the problem you're worried about.

I liked it. It was well worth reading. But the "how to be" in the title doesn't really come across for me. ...more

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Oct 12, 2020 Trudy Oldroyd rated it it was amazing

A great read. Intellectually meaty yet accessible. The first couple of chapters are a bit of a slog but keep going; it is well worth it. As a layman, I particularly like the way this book appears to seamlessly move from questions of philosophy, politics, economics, anthropology, psychology and sociology without the reader even noticing.
A very interesting and enlightening look at where we are and how we got here, and more importantly how we can step into a different future if we choose to do so. ...more

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Sep 30, 2020 Jeff Kaye rated it it was amazing

Ian Dunt's writing for Politics.co.uk and elsewhere have been an important part of my continued education for some time. Liberalism has formed the basis of the principles that I have tried to adhere to throughout my life. The combination of the two promised much and Ian has succeeded in fulfilling that hope.

The book is not about politics - he eschews any notion of adhering to a party political broadcast within the book's 448 pages. I will return to this issue, but fully understand why he has do Ian Dunt's writing for Politics.co.uk and elsewhere have been an important part of my continued education for some time. Liberalism has formed the basis of the principles that I have tried to adhere to throughout my life. The combination of the two promised much and Ian has succeeded in fulfilling that hope.

The book is not about politics - he eschews any notion of adhering to a party political broadcast within the book's 448 pages. I will return to this issue, but fully understand why he has done so. How to Be a Liberal takes the reader on a fulfilling and informative journey through time as thinkers such as Descartes, Constant, John Stuart Mill and Harriett Taylor are shown to lay the foundations for liberal thinking around the constants of "the freedom of the individual, reason, consent in government, individual rights, the separation of powers, protection of minorities, autonomy and moderation." These powerful bedrocks are shown to have been utterly destabilised by nationalism, Fascism and Marxism in the 20th Century and then, despite the great liberal resurgence after World War II, the nationalism of recent years as shown by Trump, Brexit, Orban and his anti-Soros rants and intrigues, India and other many countries and nationalists.

The dangers of liberalism are mainly in that its values are spread so widely that they can confuse and be held close by those of completely different persuasions. Milton Friedman, a rightist economist of the monetary school (whose disciples taught me at my university), held himself to be a liberal just as much as John Maynard Keynes before him. Yet, they were entirely different in their beliefs of the role of government in the economy: one was libertarian, laissez-faire; the other believed that government has a role to play when needed.

This points to a critical issue: how politics has to play a major role in taking the cause of liberalism (as so well explained in the book) to the people. In a democratic society, this is done by political parties. The book, by the absence of comment on politics and parties, in particular, drives us, as individuals, to make good the world that has gone bad but does not attempt to provide a mechanism through which this can ably be achieved. I would argue that Ian has accomplished a great deal in How to Be a Liberal but that there has to be a next stage, the one he understandably avoids, the political stage on which parties stand.

When I was very small, it was the through the words of Jo Grimond, then leader of the Liberal Party in the UK, that I became interested in how the world should work. He focused on the individual's rights, on minorities, on the dispossessed, on freedoms but also on how he thought these could be achieved. In the 1960's, when I began to think of such things, the Liberals had very few seats in Parliament and were squeezed between the forces of Conservatives and Labour (the essence of capitalism and socialism). How could a force for liberalism, based on the notions shown by Ian Dunt, force themselves into the political space dominated by such forceful and simplified arguments of the right and left? Was it to be left merely as a lobby group to fight for space within these dominant parties and for local issues such as waste disposal?

This problem persists. I was a member of the Liberal Party and am of the the Liberal Democrats (Liberals fused with social democracy, thereby confusing the electorate into thinking that the party is simply somewhere between the dominate two, as Nick Clegg emphasised in his last election). Yet, the nation remains bemused its purpose, its fundamental aims and ambitions that would propel it to some form of purpose beyond soft-left or soft-right, which it is not. Liberalism is a unique sets of ideals that sometimes find bits of themselves held within the policies of both other parties. Liberals often succeed in pushing those parties towards its own ideals and Ian Dunt's excellent book, very well written, succeeds in providing the crucial backdrop to those ideals and the violent opposition that we are currently seeing throughout the world. Yet, it is partly through the party system that such ideals can be made real and we are beholden to Joe Biden in the USA to bring some semblance of liberalism to the USA in November, while in the UK we have to push and prod from the outside before the next election in close to four years.

This book should be read by all those who want to understand how liberal ideas were developed and why they are so vitally important for all of us. ...more

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Dec 15, 2020 Christopher Bounds rated it it was amazing

Shelves: journalism-non-fiction

This examination of liberal thought since Decartes was bloody fantastic! Some of it took me back to first year philosophy, and other bits I had no idea about, and then pulled it all together in a coherent explanation. It provided me with some kind of a foundation for explaining my somewhat unformed response to nationalism and identity politics. With the defeat of Trump and his lunatic warriors, we have some cause for confidence in the robustness of democratic instructions in the US, and a hope t ...more

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Feb 21, 2021 Bob Brussack rated it really liked it

In academia, the highest praise generally is reserved for works anointed as “original,” and I’m not well-enough versed in the canon of political or moral philosophy to know whether Ian Dunt’s “How to Be a Liberal” plows significant new ground, but I take it that Dunt’s objective, exceptionally executed, was rather to make a broad expanse of old ground readily accessible to the modern reader and to show its urgent relevance today. If you are a liberal in the sense Dunt means, or if you’re curious ...more

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Jan 26, 2021 Carol rated it it was amazing

I tend to prefer fiction to fact books. However, this was a surprisingly easy read for a book that covers such a wide sweep of western political history and philosophical ideas. It was well structured, well researched and I loved how he linked the personal to the political in his exploration of key figures. It was also quite uplifting (ideas persist and evolve even if we live in difficult times) and empowering (each of us has a part to play and can choose how we do this). The sign of a good book ...more

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Jan 09, 2021 dadooronron0 rated it really liked it

Never knew there was so much to being a Liberal. Not conviced I fully understand now, but I do believe that being of a Liberal disposition, must be better than many of the alternatives. Some chapters were a bit difficult to get through, but my favoutite part was page 126 . . .

"There was no will of the people. There never had been. There was only the varied will of individuals, which even they would struggle to articulate in a consistent way"

. . . . all the more poignant after brexit vote here ...more

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Dec 13, 2020 Philippa rated it it was amazing

This book may change your life, and for once I'm not being hyperbolic. A hugely readable, meticulously researched history of liberalism, up to the current nationalist wave that is sweeping the world. The final two chapters made me upset and despairing at the state of things; thankfully they are followed up with a rousing call to action that's full of hope. Recommend if you want to be educated and inspired. ...more

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Nov 15, 2020 Gwilym rated it it was amazing

A book for our time. Written in Dunt's trademark 'svelte' prose, it romps along through history drawing clear lessons why liberalism has succeeded and failed at various points in time.

If you have any interest in how liberalism can rediscover it's 'mojo' and stop the nationalists and nativists from continuing their march to power then read this. ...more

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Jan 28, 2021 Richard Linter rated it it was amazing

Takes the same insight and analysis used in "Brexit. What the Hell Happens now?" (and in the Remainiacs podcasts) into a history of liberalism (without the Remainiacs swearing, but with the same passion for the subject).
Both books accessibly informative and both worth keeping on the shelves as reference.
Highly recommended
...more

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Nov 06, 2020 Steve Mitchell rated it really liked it · review of another edition

They say that there are more questions than answers, and this book is a fantastic illustration of that. I know that that first sentence sounds like a criticism but it is not. This is an ideal starting point for understanding how liberalism works whilst simultaneously being a great resource for further reading to extend that knowledge.

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Nov 17, 2020 Iamreddave rated it really liked it

The title is pure centerist dad but the book is really good. I started reading chapters that looked interesting. One on Mill then the English Civil war etc. That way I got through a doorstopper of a book pretty fast.
I prefered the historical chapters to the ones on what is happening now. But that could just be because I hate what is happening now.

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Feb 17, 2021 Chris rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction-history

Superb history of the birth and development of liberal democracy, and the ideas and individuals that drove that progress. A welcomed rallying cry to 'liberals' to continue to defend and support liberal democracy and its institutions. ...more

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Jan 19, 2021 Keith Love rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow! Thoroughly enjoyed reading this, Ian has a great writing style that draws you in - before I knew it I was addicted to the subject matter and I have had my horizons completely broadened. Highly recommended.

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Nov 28, 2020 Chris Wallace rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, non-fiction, politics

The best book on political theory I've ever read. I would probably not have defined my politics as particularly liberal prior to reading, but it's such a brilliantly written book that your own views going into it really don't matter, it's still a great read. ...more

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Nov 09, 2020 Mike O'Brien rated it it was amazing

A hugely rewarding read, vividly telling of the story of liberalism and its changing shape over time. It sets out a powerful argument for the need for progressive liberalism as a challenge to the rise of the authoritarianism we see all around us.

Highly recommended.

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Feb 26, 2021 George Thomson rated it really liked it

Pretty solid book, don't take the title literally, it isn't an instruction and more a history of liberal movements. ...more

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Feb 12, 2021 Oliver Balaam rated it it was ok

https://0b.medium.com/book-review-how... ...more

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Nov 05, 2020 Teresa rated it it was amazing

Timely, thoughtful - an excellently narrated audiobook

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Mar 04, 2021 David Ellis added it

Love Ian Dunt so much. <3

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Oct 03, 2020 W W rated it it was amazing

Engaging and informative, providing a framework for understanding without talking down to you. A genuine call to arms in defence of the liberties too many of us take for granted.

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