This book tells the story of freedom and explains how it is a uniquely 'British', rather than 'Western', invention. It shows how the inhabitants of a damp island at the western tip of the Eurasian landmass stumbled upon the extraordinary idea that the state was the servant, and not the master, of the individual. This revolutionary concept created security of property and contract which, in turn, led to industrialization and modern capitalism. For the first time in the history of the species, a system grew up which, on the whole, rewarded production over predation. The system was carried across the oceans by English-speakers - sometimes colonial administrators, sometimes patriotic settlers - where in Philadelphia 1787, it was distilled into its purest and most sublime form as the US Constitution. Freedom is the key to the success of the English-speaking peoples and this book teaches us to keep fast to that legacy and, in our turn, to pass it intact to the next generation.

British politician Daniel Hannan's Inventing Freedom is an ambitious account of the historical origin and spread of the principles that have made America great, and their role in creating a sphere of economic and political liberty that is as crucial as it is imperiled.

According to Hannan, the ideas and institutions we consider essential to maintaining and preserving our freedoms--individual rights, private property, the rule of law, and the institutions of representative government--are the legacy of a very specific tradition that was born in England and that we Americans, along with other former British colonies, inherited.

By the tenth century, England was a nation-state whose people were already starting to define themselves with reference to inherited common-law rights. The story of liberty is the story of how that model triumphed. How it was enshrined in a series of landmark victories--the Magna Carta, the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, the U.S. Constitution--and how it came to defeat every international rival.

Today we see those ideas abandoned and scorned in the places where they once went unchallenged. Inventing Freedom is a chronicle of the success of Anglosphere exceptionalism. And it is offered at a time that may turn out to be the end of the age of political freedom.

On 23 June 2016, against all forecasts, Britain voted to leave the EU. Drawing on his experiences at the heart of the campaign, Daniel Hannan dissects the result and our reaction. He outlines why Vote Leave won, exploring what people were voting for and what they weren't. He looks at the immediate aftermath - how it differs from what people expected and what it says about where to go next. Brexit, Hannan points out, is a process - not an event - with three key areas of consideration: our relationship with the remaining 27 EU states; our relationship with the rest of the world; and, crucially, our consequent domestic reforms - there is no point to Brexit if we don't now tackle the threats to democracy of corporatism and lobbying. What Next is Hannan's blueprint for a successful Brexit. A Brexit that addresses the concerns of the 48 per cent who voted Remain as well as of the 52 per cent who voted Leave, a Brexit that revitalises British democracy, and a Brexit that will be mutually beneficial for both Britain and Europe.

Britain is heading in the wrong direction. The British people are giving up on politics and politicians. Here is a plan to renew Britain written by an MP and an MEP.

A thoughtful and articulate spokesman for conservative ideas, Daniel Hannan, a conservative British MEP, is better versed in America's traditions and founding documents than are many Americans. In The New Road to Serfdom, Hannan argues forcefully and passionately that Americans must not allow Barack Obama to take us down the road to European Union-style social democracy. He pleads with Americans not to abandon the founding principles that have made our country a beacon of liberty for the rest of the world. In this updated edition, Hannan explores Barack Obama's attitude toward Britain and offers an insightful analysis of what it reveals about Obama's perception of our country, our Constitution, and our exceptionalism.