The Lost History of Liberalism: From Ancient Rome to the Twenty-First Century

The Lost History of Liberalism traces how the meaning of "liberal" and "liberalism" has changed from ancient Rome to the present day. Helena Rosenblatt challenges the common assumption that liberalism is an Anglo-American tradition centered on individual rights, instead showing that the French Revolution gave birth to liberalism and Germans transformed it. The concept only became widely known in the United States in the mid-twentieth century, where its meaning remained contested. Originally, liberals were moralists who believed religion could reform society, emphasized family values, and discussed rights alongside duties. During the Cold War and America's growing global influence, liberalism was reshaped into an American ideology focused on individual freedoms. Today, the term remains disputed. In the United States, "liberal" refers to advocates of expansive government, while in France, liberalism opposes big government. These semantic differences create confusion in political debate. The book examines the historical evolution of liberalism's meaning and aims to clarify the concept for more productive discussions about liberal democracy's future.