Cover of The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom

The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom

by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. · 1988

+ Want to read

With a new introduction by the author The Vital Center is an eloquent and incisive defense of liberal democracy against its rivals to the left and to the right, communism and fascism. It shows how the failures of free society had led to the mass escape from freedom and sharpened the appeal of totalitarian solutions. It calls for a radical reconstruction of the democratic faith based on a realistic understanding of human limitation and frailty.

Subject
politicspoliticsMore like thisLess of thishistoryhistoryMore like thisLess of this
Setting
20th century20th centuryMore like thisLess of thisUSAUSAMore like thisLess of this
Audience
adult
Length
medium · 274 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

BuyAmazonGoogle Books

BorrowOpen LibraryA library near you

MoreCompare prices

Liked The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Why England slept John F. Kennedy · 1940 Shares politics, history
  2. Tragedy of Hyderabad Mir Laik Ali · 1962 Shares politics, history
  3. Political thought from Plato to the present Mont Judd Harmon · 1964 Shares politics, history
  4. The Nadars of Tamilnad Robert L. Hardgrave · 1900 Shares politics, history
See more recommendations →

“If you want more of the same (politics), start with these.”

  1. The Prophet and the Proletariat: Islamic Fundamentalism, Class and Revolution Chris Harman · 1994
  2. What Good Is Grand Strategy?: Power and Purpose in American Statecraft from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush Hal Brands · 2013
  3. Political theory for mortals John Evan Seery · 1996
  4. A Matter of Principle: Humanitarian Arguments for War in Iraq · 2005

“If it was the history that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. Uganda's Revolution 1979-1986: How I Saw It Pecos Kutesa · 1905
  2. Thatcher and Sons: A Revolution in Three Acts Simon Jenkins · 2006
  3. Happy Days Are Here Again:The 1932 Democratic Convention, the Emergence of FDR--and How America Was Changed Forever Steve Neal · 2004
  4. In It Together: The Inside Story of the Coalition Government Matthew d'Ancona · 2013

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. The permanence of the political Joseph M. Schwartz · 1995
  2. Memory and Identity: Conversations at the Dawn of a Millennium John Paul II · 2005
  3. The Devil in History: Communism, Fascism, and Some Lessons of the Twentieth Century Vladimir Tismaneanu · 2012
  4. Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism Michael Parenti · 1997

Report a problem