Publisher's Synopsis
What do we mean by liberalism or liberal history? It seems that every scholar in the social sciences would like define liberalism in their own way. Certainly, there is plenty of room for differences of opinion on this matter. But defining any "-ism" requires circumscribing a set of beliefs, or drawing lines in such a way as to connect ideas which we believe form a coherent tradition. Liberal history is primarily concerned with ideas and with the reasons why individuals act as they do in the past. Liberal historians prefer to study themes of power and liberty, particularly as they relate the rise and fall of political systems that protect liberties and individual rights. As the selections in this reader show, the liberal approach to the past is generally skeptical of laws of history and suggestions of historical determinism.
