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Liberalism at Large:The World According to the Economist
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Path-breaking history of modern liberalism told through the pages of one of its most zealous supporters
In this landmark book, Alexander Zevin looks at the development of modern liberalism by examining the long history of the Economist newspaper, which, since 1843, has been the most tireless – and internationally influential – champion of the liberal cause anywhere in the world.
But what exactly is liberalism, and how has its message evolved?
Liberalism at Large examines a political ideology on the move as it confronts the challenges that classical doctrine left unresolved: the rise of democracy, the expansion of empire, the ascendancy of high finance. Contact with such momentous forces was never going to leave the proponents of liberal values unchanged. Zevin holds a mirror to the politics – and personalities – of Economist editors past and present, from Victorian banker-essayists James Wilson and Walter Bagehot to latter-day eminences Bill Emmott and Zanny Minton Beddoes.
Today, neither economic crisis at home nor permanent warfare abroad has dimmed the Economist’s belief in unfettered markets, limited government, and a free hand for the West. Confidante to the powerful, emissary for the financial sector, portal onto international affairs, the bestselling newsweekly shapes the world its readers – as well as everyone else – inhabit. This is the first critical biography of one of the architects of a liberal world order now under increasing strain.
Reviews
A highly-readable history of one of the world’s most influential publications – and an important contribution to the history of political thought
The Economist has vigorously claimed to be advancing the liberal cause since its founding. Zevin takes it at its word, telling the story not only of the magazine itself but also of its impact on world affairs. Having evidently mastered the magazine's archives, he commands a deep knowledge of its inner workings. The Economist emerges as a force that – thanks to the military, cultural and economic power of Britain and, later, America – can truly be said to have made the modern world, if not in the way that many liberals would suppose
Sharp, engaging and deeply researched, Liberalism at Large reveals the profound contradictions at the heart of one of the
most influential strands of liberalism – its supposed aversion to state power and consistent embrace of imperial might
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Written with analytical rigour, narrative flair and formidably marshalled scepticism, Liberalism at Large is by some way the most ambitious and compelling history of a newspaper or magazine that I have read
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Liberalism at Large has to be the most fascinating, and the best-written, engagement with the idea-that-nobody-ever-defines. Our understanding of liberalism, and of its historical and ideological power, is permanently changed, and immeasurably for the better
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Much more than a history of a single journal, Liberalism at Large gives us a compelling counter-history of key global
players, events and ideologies from imperialism and free trade to liberalism and neoliberalism. Absorbing and informative -
What a brilliant idea and what a brilliant book. Zevin offers a critical and nuanced account of the ever-changing liberalism promoted by the Economist
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Meticulous and beautifully written, Liberalism at Large should be read by anyone interested in “actually existing liberalism”, in other words liberalism as it was conceived by the people who defined and promoted it, and not an idealized version based on some pre-determined canon of “great thinkers”. Fascinating and often disturbing
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Liberalism at Large is...well-paced and engagingly written all the way through. The particular lens acts as a rather inspired way of looking at the history of Anglo-American capitalism. Zevin...is able to tell a fascinating story of [the Economist] and its relationship to the system it has championed for close to two hundred years now.
Counterfire -
Well-written and well-organized, Zevin’s book gives us fresh insight into the evolution of the doctrine of liberalism
Journal of European Economic History