Canbury to publish book on liberalism by Ian Dunt
Posted on September 26 2019
Canbury Press has acquired an era-defining work by the political journalist Ian Dunt setting out the case for liberal democracy in the age of Donald Trump and Brexit.
How To Be A Liberal is an extraordinary mixture of history, philosophy and political polemic, which will act as a rallying cry for those who still believe in freedom and reason in the shadow of populist governments.
Canbury acquired world rights for the title — out in May 2020 — from Dunt’s agent, Lisa Moylett at CMM.
Dunt is editor of Politics.co.uk and an influential chronicler of Brexit on social media, TV, the Remainiacs podcast, and the press. His first book, Brexit What the Hell Happens Now? (Canbury, 2016), pithily predicted the trials that Britain would face when seeking to leave the EU months before they came to pass.
How To Be A Liberal is an epic retelling of the story of liberalism, from its birth in the fight against absolute monarchy to the modern-day resistance against the new populism.
In a unified narrative ranging from the battlefields of the English Civil War to the 2008 financial crash and beyond, the book explains the political ideas which underpin the modern world. Readers will be equipped to fight back against the deterioration of politics in Britain and abroad, where autocracy and propaganda are in danger of taking root.
Martin Hickman, managing director, Canbury Press said: “In my view Ian Dunt is the best political writer working in Britain. Several publishers approached him after his brilliant book on Brexit, so I am thrilled that he has come back to us for his second and most ambitious project to date.
“How To Be A Liberal explains the development of liberal ideas from Descartes to John Stuart Mill to John Maynard Keynes and the welfare state, and why they are vital to cherish. As citizens of a liberal democracy, we tend to instinctively support these concepts, but we cannot always articulate or defend them in ordinary life. This book gives the reader the tools to do just that and will energise the fight-back against the liars and strong-men, like Donald Trump and Viktor Orban, who have hoodwinked the public into backing far-right nationalism.”
Ian Dunt said: “This book is for people who feel like they're going mad. They've been left behind by right and left and ignored by the media. They've been told to bury their identity in two groups which don't exist - 'the people' or 'the elite'. They're told that reason, evidence and objective reality no longer matter. They're told it's OK — even admirable — to hate outsiders.
“But they're not going mad. There are millions who think like them and remain instinctively committed to individual freedom and rationality. Liberalism remains, as it's always been, the most radical system of political thought in history. So we're going to tell its story and show why it is such a threat to the authoritarians of the world."
Louisa Pritchard at Louisa Pritchard Associates is handling translation rights. Combined Book Services in Kent is the distributor in UK and Ireland. Casemate IPM is distributing the book in the US and Canada.
PRE-ORDER
BIBLIO INFO
ISBN 9781912454419
TITLE How To Be A Liberal
AUTHOR Ian Dunt
PUB DATE: 21 May 2020
PRICE: £16.99
EXTENT: 320pp
FORMAT: Demy hardback
(216mm x 135m)
CATEGORY: Politics and Government/
History of Ideas/ Philosophy
BIC CODE: JP/JFCX/HP