THE TRANSATLANTIC PERSUASION

by Robert Kelley ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 12, 1969

This is a volatile reinterpretation of nineteenth-century liberalism in the Anglo-American Community (England, America and Canada). Kelley, a historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara, presents the ""Liberal-Democratic"" stance as essentially anti-Establishment espoused by ""outsiders"" who called for a pluralistic world community. Beginning with the intellectual inheritance, he offers a radicalized Adam Smith as the central theoretician; reclaims Edmund Burke from the conservatives, labeling him the ""prophet of the Liberals"" in England; and-assigns Jefferson a comparable role among Democrats in America. Gladstone's career is the book's touchstone, though there is heavy emphasis on Tilden and Cleveland and, to a lesser degree, on Canadians George Brown and Alexander Mackenzie. Kelley does demonstrate a strong plausibility for his thesis that men and ideas crossed the Atlantic with equal frequency and that there are some parallel strands on both continents, but, he is careful not to overstate the case. Though there is enough background for the general reader, Kelley's book will appeal mainly to historians -- some of whom may take issue.

Pub Date: March 12, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION