本书讲述了自由的故事,解释了为什么自由与其说是“西方的”毋宁说是“英国的”独特发明。它向我们揭示了欧亚大陆西端一角湿冷孤岛上的居民如何偶然问发现了国家是个人的公仆而非主人的观念。这一革命性观念创造出了财产与契约的概念,反过来又推动了工业化和现代资本主义进程。在这个民族的历史上,第一次生长出了奖励创造生产而非弱肉强食的制度:这套制度被讲英语者所携带,一路漂洋过海,或者借助殖民统治者的强制推行,或者经由 This book tells the story of freedom, explaining why freedom is not so much a “Western” as it is rather a “unique British” invention. It reveals to us how the inhabitants of the isolated islands on the western end of the Eurasian continent find the idea that the state is a personal servant rather than a master. This revolutionary concept created the concept of property and contract, which in turn promoted the process of industrialization and modern capitalism. For the first time in the history of this nation, a system of rewards for creating and not for jungle has been born: this system is carried by English speakers and runs all the way across the sea, either through the imposition of colonial rulers or through