Richard Brookhiser, "Give Me Liberty: A History of America's Exceptional Idea" (Basic Books, 2019)
b"In\\xa0Give Me Liberty: A History of America's Exceptional Idea\\xa0(Basic Books, 2019),\\xa0Richard Brookhiser has written a history of an idea, liberty, using an unconventional format of a review of documents from America\\u2019s past that touch upon different understandings of liberty. Brookhiser reviews thirteen documents from each era of America\\u2019s past. He starts with the 1619 document noting the beginning of representative and deliberative self-government in Jamestown, Virginia. He includes a review of notable, well known documents, from the Seneca Falls Declaration from 1848 to Lincoln\\u2019s Gettysburg Address from 1863 to William Jennings Bryan\\u2019s \\u201cCross of Gold\\u201d speech in 1896 to Ronald Reagan\\u2019s Berlin Wall speech in 1987. Yet, Brookhiser also analyzes some \\u201chidden history,\\u201d covering documents that are less well known. For example, he reviews the Flushing Remonstrance of 1657, wherein common people in New York publicly demanded liberty of conscience, not for themselves, but for a religious minority and for religious beliefs they did not personally embrace. Instances such as these reveal the widespread and deeply felt sense that liberty is endemic to humans and should be recognized by positive law and protected by government.\\nIan J. Drake\\xa0is Associate Professor of Jurisprudence, Montclair State University.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law"