Essential Readings for Educators
Whether you are searching for a new title to add to your course curriculum, or looking for a book to add to your personal library, explore our selection of books customized especially for educators.
American History
Our rich collection of classic works in American history brings to the forefront guiding principles of the American founding era to both scholars and students alike.
American Political Writing During the Founding Era: 1760–1805
This selection of essays, pamphlets, speeches, and letters to newspapers written between 1760 and 1805 by American political and religious leaders illuminate the founding of the republic. Many selections are…
Collected Works of James Wilson
This two-volume set brings together a collection of writings and speeches of James Wilson, one of only six signers of both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution,…
Collected Works of Roger Sherman
Roger Sherman (1721–1793) was the only founder to sign the Articles of Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. He served 1,543 days in the…
Colonial Origins of the American Constitution
This landmark collection of eighty documents created by the American colonists—and not English officials—is the genesis of American fundamental law and constitutionalism. Included are all documents attempting to unite the…
Democracy, Liberty, and Property
In one volume, Democracy, Liberty, and Property provides an overview of the state constitutional conventions held in the 1820s. With topics as relevant today as they were then, this collection…
E Pluribus Unum
Having won independence from England, America faced a new question: Would this be politically one nation, or would it not? E Pluribus Unum is a spirited look at how that…
Democratick Editorials
William Leggett (1801–1839) was the intellectual leader of the laissez-faire wing of Jacksonian democracy. His diverse writings applied the principle of equal rights to liberty and property. These editorials maintain…
Empire and Nation
Two series of letters described as “the wellsprings of nearly all ensuing debate on the limits of governmental power in the United States” address the whole remarkable range of issues…
Essays by “The Free Republican,” 1784–1786
This is the first modern publication of ten essays published in the popular Boston newspaper The Independent Chronicle, a significant intellectual event in Massachusetts politics. The essays deal primarily with…
Exploring the Bounds of Liberty
Exploring the Bounds of Liberty presents a rich and extensive selection of the political literature produced in and about colonial British America during the century before the American Revolution. Most…
Fame and the Founding Fathers
The fifteen articles, essays, notes, and documents gathered in this collection are a permanent contribution to study of the American founding. As teacher, critic, and editor of the William &…
Friends of the Constitution
There were many writers other than John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton who, in 1787 and 1788, argued for the Constitution’s ratification. In a collection central to our understanding…
Economics
View AllOur economics titles explore diverse aspects of how economic reasoning applies to political science and other social sciences, as well as the relevance of economics as moral philosophy.
“Are Economists Basically Immoral?” And Other Essays on Economics, Ethics, and Religion by Paul Heyne
A well-trained theologian, a gifted and dedicated teacher of economics for over forty years, and the author of a highly regarded and widely-used textbook, The Economic Way of Thinking, Paul…
“The Law,” “The State,” and Other Political Writings, 1843–1850
“The Law,” “The State,” and Other Political Writings, 1843–1850, collects nineteen of Bastiat’s “pamphlets,” or articles, ranging from the theory of value and rent, public choice and collective action, government…
A Treatise on Political Economy
A Treatise on Political Economy by Antoine Louis Claude Destutt de Tracy (1754–1836) is a foundational text of nineteenth-century, free-market economic thought and remains one of the classics of nineteenth-century…
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (set)
First published in 1776, the year in which the American Revolution officially began, Smith’s Wealth of Nations sparked a revolution of its own. In it Smith analyzes the major elements…
Austrian Subjectivism and the Emergence of Entrepreneurship Theory
Austrian Subjectivism and the Emergence of Entrepreneurship Theory comprises several of Kirzner’s previously published papers on the subjects of methodological subjectivism and the history of entrepreneurship theory—topics of primary importance…
Between the Two World Wars
In 1934, Ludwig von Mises left his native Austria in fear of the Nazis, who seized all his papers in 1938 in Vienna and, Mises thought, destroyed them, but the…
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy provides access to two important and influential books on bureaucracy by Gordon Tullock: The Politics of Bureaucracy (1965) and Economic Hierarchies, Organization and the Structure of Production (1992). When…
Can Capitalism Survive?
Benjamin A. Rogge—late Distinguished Professor of Political Economy at Wabash College—was a representative of that most unusual species: economists who speak and write in clear English. He forsakes professional jargon…
Collected Works of John Stuart Mill
Liberty Fund is pleased to make available in paperback eight of the original thirty-three cloth volumes of the Collected Works of John Stuart Mill that were first published by the…
Commerce and Government Considered in Their Mutual Relationship
French philosopher Abbé de Condillac produced perhaps the most original contributions to eighteenth-century economics. His conclusions as to the desirability of removing barriers to free trade and of competitive market…
Commerce, Culture, and Liberty
This collection of thirty-seven readings (from thirty-three writers) brings together some of the most significant pre–Adam Smith writings on the political and cultural dimensions of capitalism. To modern readers, these…
Competition and Entrepreneurship
Competition and Entrepreneurship defines Israel M. Kirzner’s unique contribution to the economics profession. Pointing out the shortcomings of the traditional microeconomic model, Kirzner offers an alternative and complementary view, which…
Education
View AllIn Liberty Fund’s first publication, Education in a Free Society, Anne Husted Burleigh writes “Education is a growth in understanding on the part of a particular human being.” Liberty Fund explores ideas that go beyond the classroom and looks at how an understanding of education affects the human condition while placing an emphasis on the advancement of society.
History
View AllOur history collection opens windows into history, and into the history of writing about history. This collection of books encourages readers to reflect on the events of history and the ways we discuss those events over time.
A Concise History of the Common Law
As always during its long history, English common law, upon which American law is based, has had to defend itself against the challenge of civil law’s clarity and traditions. That…
A Vindication of Natural Society
This is a new edition of Edmund Burke’s first work, originally issued anonymously in 1756 as a letter attributed to “a late noble writer.” In 1757 Burke produced a revised…
Further Reflections on the Revolution in France
In his famous Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), Edmund Burke excoriated French revolutionary leaders for recklessly destroying France’s venerable institutions and way of life. But his war against…
History as the Story of Liberty
Benedetto Croce (1866–1952), who is perhaps best known as the author in 1902 of Aesthetics, wrote History as the Story of Liberty in 1938, when the Western world had succumbed…
John Randolph of Roanoke
John Randolph of Roanoke is unique in American political history. For most of his public career Randolph was a leader of the opposition—to both Jeffersonians and Federalists. Only twenty-six when…
Origins of the Common Law
This introductory analysis of the origin and early development of the English common law provides an excellent grounding for the beginning student as well as the experienced scholar of legal…
Select Works of Edmund Burke: Letters on a Regicide Peace
This famed Payne edition of Select Works of Edmund Burke is universally revered by students of English history and political thought. Volume 3 presents Burke’s Four Letters on the Proposals…
Select Works of Edmund Burke: Reflections on the Revolution in France
Originally published by Oxford University Press in the 1890s, the famed three-volume Payne edition of Select Works is universally revered by students of English history and political thought. Faithfully reproduced…
The Evolution of Civilizations
Carroll Quigley was a legendary teacher at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. His course on the history of civilization was extraordinary in its scope and in its impact on…
Selected Writings of Lord Acton
Lord Acton was among the most illustrious historians of nineteenth-century England, a man of great learning with a deep devotion to individual liberty and a profound understanding of history. Liberty…
The History of Civilization in Europe
Originally given as a series of lectures at the Sorbonne, François Guizot’s History of Civilization in Europe was published to great acclaim in 1828 and is now regarded as a…
The History of England
David Hume’s enduring reputation as the first modern thinker to develop a systematically naturalistic philosophy tends to obscure the fact that he was more famous among his contemporaries as a…
Bruce P. Frohnen
Professor of Law, Ohio Northern University
Paulina Kewes
Helen Morag Fellow and Tutor and Professor of English Literature Jesus College, University of Oxford
Timothy Fuller
Professor, Colorado College
James Otteson
Professor of Economics, Wake Forest University
Law
View AllConstitutionalism, common law, and the philosophical principles of law in a free society are just a few of the ideas that make up this collection of law titles.
A Concise History of the Common Law
As always during its long history, English common law, upon which American law is based, has had to defend itself against the challenge of civil law’s clarity and traditions. That…
Government by Judiciary
It is Berger’s theory that the United States Supreme Court has embarked on “a continuing revision of the Constitution, under the guise of interpretation,” thereby subverting America’s democratic institutions and…
Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution
The Law of the Constitution elucidates the guiding principles of the modern constitution of England: the legislative sovereignty of Parliament, the rule of law, and the binding force of unwritten…
Lectures on the Relation between Law and Public Opinion in England during the Nineteenth Century
This volume brings together a series of lectures A. V. Dicey first gave at Harvard Law School on the influence of public opinion in England during the nineteenth century and…
Origins of the Common Law
This introductory analysis of the origin and early development of the English common law provides an excellent grounding for the beginning student as well as the experienced scholar of legal…
The “Higher Law” Background of American Constitutional Law
Having written extensively on various aspects of the American constitutional order, Edward S. Corwin is considered a leading constitutional scholar of the twentieth century. Alpheus Mason described Corwin’s writings as…
The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I
First published in 1895, Sir Frederick Pollock and Frederic William Maitland’s legal classic The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I expanded the work of Sir Edward…
The Natural Law
Originally published in German in 1936, The Natural Law is the first work to clarify the differences between traditional natural law as represented in the writings of Cicero, Aquinas, and…
The Roots of Liberty
The Roots of Liberty is a critical collection of essays on the origin and nature of the often elusive idea of liberty. The essays address early medieval developments, encompassing such…
The Selected Writings of Sir Edward Coke
Sir Edward Coke (1552–1634) successfully defended English liberties against the royal prerogative of the Stuart kings and virtually single-handedly established the rule of law for the English-speaking peoples. Coke’s view…
The Story of Law
Written for the layman as well as the attorney, The Story of Law is the only complete outline history of the law ever published. “It is,” too, noted journalist William…
Political Thought
View AllOur titles in political thought encompass the ideals of the classical liberal tradition, such as self-government, the rule of law, and constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion and of the press.
“The Law,” “The State,” and Other Political Writings, 1843–1850
“The Law,” “The State,” and Other Political Writings, 1843–1850, collects nineteen of Bastiat’s “pamphlets,” or articles, ranging from the theory of value and rent, public choice and collective action, government…
A Letter Concerning Toleration and Other Writings
This volume opens with Locke’s Letter Concerning Toleration (1689) and also contains his earlier Essay Concerning Toleration (1667), extracts from the Third Letter for Toleration (1692), and a large body…
A Treatise on Political Economy
A Treatise on Political Economy by Antoine Louis Claude Destutt de Tracy (1754–1836) is a foundational text of nineteenth-century, free-market economic thought and remains one of the classics of nineteenth-century…
A Vindication of Natural Society
This is a new edition of Edmund Burke’s first work, originally issued anonymously in 1756 as a letter attributed to “a late noble writer.” In 1757 Burke produced a revised…
An Account of Denmark
The Liberty Fund edition of An Account of Denmark is the first modern edition of Molesworth’s writings. This volume presents not only An Account, but also his translation of Francogallia…
Cato: A Tragedy, and Selected Essays
First produced in 1713, Cato: A Tragedy inspired generations toward a pursuit of liberty. Liberty Fund’s new edition of Cato: A Tragedy, and Selected Essays brings together Addison’s dramatic masterpiece…
Cato’s Letters
Almost a generation before Washington, Henry, and Jefferson were even born, two Englishmen, concealing their identities with the honored ancient name of Cato, wrote newspaper articles condemning tyranny and advancing…
Christianity and Classical Culture
Christianity and Classical Culture is considered one of the great works of scholarship published in the last century. The theme of Christianity and Classical Culture is the fundamental change in…
Collected Works of James Wilson
This two-volume set brings together a collection of writings and speeches of James Wilson, one of only six signers of both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution,…
Collected Works of John Stuart Mill
Liberty Fund is pleased to make available in paperback eight of the original thirty-three cloth volumes of the Collected Works of John Stuart Mill that were first published by the…
Colonial Origins of the American Constitution
This landmark collection of eighty documents created by the American colonists—and not English officials—is the genesis of American fundamental law and constitutionalism. Included are all documents attempting to unite the…
Commerce, Culture, and Liberty
This collection of thirty-seven readings (from thirty-three writers) brings together some of the most significant pre–Adam Smith writings on the political and cultural dimensions of capitalism. To modern readers, these…
Martine Brownley
Goodrich C. White Professor of English, Emory University
Course Adoption & Exam Copy Request
Spark new thinking in the classroom with the addition of one of our engaging titles. Request a complimentary exam or desk copy of a Liberty Fund title to determine if it’s a right fit for your curriculum.