The Reading Room

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This article was written when the memory of the socialist experiments of the 1848 Revolution were… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay was written some 10 years after that of Léon Faucher when some of the heat felt in 1852… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This extract includes the first and fifth parts of a long essay which appeared in The Examiner… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. At the beginning of his book on The Rights of War and Peace Grotius wrote a short “Prolegomena”… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. Harrington provides a… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. In this chapter Spencer applies his theory of militant and industrial types of society to predicting… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. In this chapter Molinari… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. Condorcet wrote this… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. Some liberals were… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This collection of Shelley’s writings contains his “Declaration of Rights” (1812), numerous poems on… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. The French Declaration… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. In this extract Bentham defines the two principles on which he bases his political theory, namely… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. Mill’s classic statement of the utilitarian position appeared in 1861 in a series of articles in… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. Boétie asks one of the most profound questions of political theory, why does the majority obey the… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. Humboldt’s book The… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. George Mason (1725-1792)… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. The Petition of Right… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. Parliament passed the… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. The English Bill of… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. In vol. 2 of his History… more

41: “Magna Carta” (The Great Charter) (1215) The document known as Magna Carta was an agreement signed between King John and his feudal nobles in 1215 settling disputes they had had about taxation and the exercise of political power… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. The Declaration of… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. In a section in the… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This influential chapter from “Spirit of the Laws” is a very good example of Montesquieu’s… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. Daniel Webster gave a… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. Lord Acton’s inaugural… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. Madison’s essay on… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This is an essay Mill wrote for the London Review in which he surveys “the state of the nation” and… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. This is a chapter from… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. This is a pamphlet… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. This is part of First… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This is a chapter from Kirzner’s book Market Theory and the Price System (1963) in which he… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. This is part of a… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. This is part of a… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This is a speech Cobden gave in Manchester 12 days before PM Robert Peel announced the abolition of… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. This is a collection of… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This is a pamphlet Spooner published in 1875 in which he argued that “vices” should not be punished… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This is a chapter from Spencer’s book Social Statics where he explores the furthest reaches of the… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” a collection of classroom-friendly excerpts from some of the most important material in the OLL.

This extract consists of two chapters from Condillac’s book Commerce and… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay is by the American economist Milton Friedman in which he makes the case that political… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay is by the Austrian economist and social theorist Friedrich Hayek in which he gives one of… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay is by the Austrian economist Israel Kirzner who is best known for his pioneering work on… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay is by the French political economist Jean-Baptiste Say who argued in what later became… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay is by the American economist Leland Yeager who has written on monetary policy and… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay is by the Anglo-Hungarian economist Anthony de Jasay on the political economy of modern… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from an influential article by Hayek from 1945 in which he demonstrates the part… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay is by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant who makes a strong case for the equality of… more

This essay is by the American economist Paul Heyne who explains in a mere 5 pages how to think like an economist. Anyone can learn to think like an economist, and we think this might be the best introduction to the process. (Well,… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from a lecture given by William Graham Sumner, “The Conquest of the United States by… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from Vicesimus Knox’s sermon “The Prospect of Perpetual and Universal Peace” which he… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from Ludwig von Mises’ book Human Action which was published soon after the end of… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from a lecture Ludwig von Mises gave to the Mont Pelerin Society in October 1958 in… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from John Stuart Mill’s book On Liberty where in Chapter 4 he describes the strict… more

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from David Hume’s collection of essays which include several essays on the origins… more