Inventing the Individual

Magisterial, timeless, beautifully written … Siedentop has achieved something quite extraordinary. He has explained us to ourselves * Spectator *One of the most stimulating books of political theory to have appeared in many years … a refreshingly unorthodox account of the roots of modern liberalism in medieval Christian thinking – John Gray * Literary Review *A brave, brilliant and beautifully written defence of the western tradition – Paul Lay * History Today *Thoroughly interesting and fundamentally convincing … admirably nuanced … formidable … Inventing the Individual is written with effortless lucidity – Jeffrey Collins * TLS *An engrossing book of ideas … illuminating, beautifully written and rigorously argued – Kenan Malik * Independent *A most impressive work of philosophical history – Robert Skidelsky

Larry Siedentop is one of the most distinguished and penetrating political historians. His previous publications include Tocqueville. He is a tutor at Keble College in Oxford.