NEW LIBERTIES FOR OLD
By
A group of six lectures by the historian-professor, author of Modern Democracy, compact, astringent, very pointed. All deal with problems democracy must face. Title essay shows tow conceptions of liberty, formerly when it signified emancipation, today when it is identified with social regulation, and Becker shows how the Communist and liberal conceptions of liberty are but different formulations of the doctrine of progress. Loving Peace and Waging War points a paradox, and reveals how individuals or states are never truly pacifistic, only so long as their terms are met. Other essays show how democracy today is on the defensive, the prevalence of fear, suspicion, discontent weakening its powers. And the final essay on Fascism shows how Hitler's new order is only the old disorder of absolutism, regimentation and Lebensraum. Pertinent-stimulating. A book that does successfully what Perry's boom (see page 392) falls short of doing.