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The OLL blog explores the fascinating, vital, and often surprising texts and people that fill our library. Come talk in our library!

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The French Revolution on America’s Mind Part I

By: Walter Donway Apr 07, 2026

“…the Declaration of the Rights of Man of 1789 and the dictatorship of the Committee of Public Safety of the Year II (1793–94) represent principles and values debated passionately today. From China to Central Europe, they are the headline makers.”

--Nancy Nichols Barker, professor of…

For Each and For All: Martineau’s Moral and Economic Defense of Free Markets

By: Caroline Breashears Mar 10, 2026

Mrs. Dalloway: Only Authors Get to Understand People

By: Winston Tingle Feb 11, 2026

Features & Essays

Liberty Matters

The OLL brings people together to debate and discuss important texts and big ideas about liberty.

Compounding Interest: Revisiting The Wealth of Nations at 250

By: Eric Schliesser, Maria Pia Paganelli, Dennis C. Rasmussen, Brianne Wolf, Jacob T. Levy, and Craig Smith Mar 09, 2026

Arriving in 1776, as the Declaration of Independence gave birth to a new nation and Gibbon’s Decline and Fall gave birth to a new approach to history, Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations gave birth to a new discipline--modern economics.