Richard Cobden (1804 65) was the leading liberal thinker of his generation, and it was primarily through his efforts that the Corn Laws were repealed and that classical liberalism became the dominant political theory of the United Kingdom for over half a century. His first pamphlet was published in 1835 and his last in 1862. This collection was published two years after his death, and was regularly reprinted on both sides of the Atlantic well into the twentieth century. Volume 1 includes Cobden's first two pamphlets, England, Ireland and America and Russia, which argue that British foreign policy benefited only the 'establishment' while the ordinary people were forced, through excessive taxation, to finance military adventures. Advocating free trade, low taxation, reduced military spending and improvements to popular education, he suggests Britain should concentrate on improving conditions in Ireland rather than engage in sabre-rattling in the face of Russian expansionism.

Richard Cobden (1804 65) was the leading liberal thinker of his generation, and it was primarily through his efforts that the Corn Laws were repealed and that classical liberalism became the dominant political theory of the United Kingdom for over half a century. His first pamphlet was published in 1835 and his last in 1862. This collection was published two years after his death, and was regularly reprinted on both sides of the Atlantic well into the twentieth century. Volume 2 contains Cobden's later writings. With a background of war in the Crimea and the United States, his emphasis shifts from advocating free trade to the need to promote international treaties and co-operation. In his final work, The Three Panics, he is able to use the experience gained while negotiating a commercial treaty with France to highlight the folly of the anti-French hysteria that still frequently erupted in Britain.