Description

Liberalism is under attack. From the rise of nationalism and populism to the decline of trust in institutions, liberals are facing unprecedented challenges. But what does it mean to be a liberal in the 21st Century? And how can we defend the values that we hold dear?

In his new book, How to Be a Liberal, Ian Dunt provides a clear and concise guide to liberalism for the modern age. Drawing on his years of experience as a journalist and political commentator, Dunt argues that liberalism is not just a set of abstract principles, but a practical guide to living a good and meaningful life.

In the book, Dunt covers a wide range of topics, including:

What is liberalism and why is it important?
The history of liberalism and its key thinkers
The different types of liberalism and their strengths and weaknesses
How to be a liberal in a world that is increasingly hostile to liberalism

Dunt’s writing is witty and engaging, and he makes complex ideas accessible to a general audience. He is also not afraid to tackle difficult topics, such as the challenges of multiculturalism and the rise of identity politics.

But what makes How to Be a Liberal truly unique is Dunt’s emphasis on the importance of humor and irony in the defense of liberalism. He argues that liberals need to learn to laugh at themselves and their opponents, and to avoid taking themselves too seriously.

In one passage, Dunt writes:

“Liberalism is not a religion. It is a set of ideas that are open to challenge and debate. Liberals should never be afraid to laugh at themselves or their own beliefs. In fact, I would argue that a sense of humor is essential for any liberal who wants to be effective in the world.”

Dunt’s book is a timely and important contribution to the debate about liberalism in the 21st century. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand what it means to be a liberal today and how to defend the values that we hold dear.

Publisher Review

'A tour de force; a mighty trumpet blast for the forces of liberalism and enlightenment in the face of a global tide of ignorance and populism.' - THE SECRET BARRISTER 'This is a history of ideas as it should be written - brilliant, vivid story-telling about the people who shaped liberalism, the challenges it has faced over the centuries, its commitment to the truth and why it's now more important than ever to defend it.' - CAROLINE LUCAS MP 'Dunt's gift for making complicated issues comprehensible is second to none. Courageous.' - JAMES O'BRIEN, LBC 'How To Be A Liberal is required reading for today's political debates.' - ANNE APPLEBAUM, TWILIGHT OF DEMOCRACY 'Clear-eyed and hard-headed. His defence of liberalism is political writing at its most urgent and engaging.' - NICK COHEN, OBSERVER COLUMNIST 'A phenomenal history from a truly big mind.' - DAVID SCHNEIDER, THE DEATH OF STALIN 'In an age of rampant nationalism and anti-intellectualism, this book urges us to celebrate complexity and diversity. Dunt, editor of the website politics.co.uk, counterposes liberalism and nationalism, the latter of which, he writes, is based on a sixfold lie. Among its elements are the thought that we can have only one identity at a time, which makes us "part of the mass: an undifferentiated component of the whole," and the contention that any difference from that mass is bad. We see the sixth component, "there is no such thing as truth," enacted with every Trump tweet. As Orwell knew, when politicians can get away with lies, lie they will; if the concepts of truth and falsehood disappear, then they will do as they please. Having established this sixfold premise, Dunt examines the evolution of the idea of liberalism, at least some of which he traces back to Descartes and his obsession with the "gap between dream and reality, the thin line between being awake and...the crazed world of dreaming"-i.e., the foundational stuff of truth and lies. While Descartes is seldom pressed into political work, Dunt makes a good case for doing so. Other figures in the battle against authoritarianism include some of the usual suspects, such as John Locke and John Stuart Mill-who was careful to give credit to his partner, Harriet Taylor, a woman who even so "was erased" from the historical record. The paucity of intellectualism on the far right, an ideology "pumped into the heart and pursued with the fist," is as evident now as it was a century ago. In a book that makes a good companion to Adam Gopnik's A Thousand Small Sanities, Dunt takes down a few politically correct absurdities, but most of his fire is aimed squarely at Trump, Theresa May, Marine Le Pen, and other enemies of freedom. When in the course of human events it falls on us to resist, this makes a welcome guidebook.' - KIRKUS, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ian-dunt/how-to-be-a-liberal/ 'A journalist who has come to prominence on Twitter as a staunch critic of Brexit, Dunt has delved into heavy academic theory and interpreted it in an accessible manner for the ordinary reader. He describes liberalism as "an enormous, boisterous, confounding bloody thing," and writes passionately in its favour, as a counterweight to ignorance and populism. This book is required reading for anyone interested in politics and philosophy.' - PROSPECT 'All of Ian Dunt's How to be a Liberal is essential reading, but the chapter on Harriet Taylor and John Stuart Mill is blistering, eye-opening stuff.' - Shakespeare & Company bookstore, https://twitter.com/Shakespeare_Co/status/1332266783303151617