The Individualists: Radicals, Reactionaries, and the Struggle for the Soul of Libertarianism

A sweeping history of libertarian thought, from radical anarchists to conservative defenders of the status quo

Libertarianism emerged in the mid-nineteenth century with an unwavering commitment to progressive causes, from women’s rights and the fight against slavery to anti-colonialism and Irish emancipation. Today, this movement founded on the principle of individual liberty finds itself divided by both progressive and reactionary elements vying to claim it as their own. The Individualists is the untold story of a political doctrine continually reshaped by fierce internal tensions, bold and eccentric personalities, and shifting political circumstances.

Praise

  • "A superb work of intellectual history."

    The Wall Street Journal

  • “Some books become good friends. They not only stimulate our minds, but they also speak to our very souls. [The Individualists] is such a book…excellent, wisely written, and beautifully crafted.”

    Bradley Birzer, Law and Liberty

  • “Zwolinski and Tomasi have written the definitive book about libertarian ideas reaching up to the present day. They show that libertarianism remains a vital and fascinating source of ideological energy and influence.”

    Tyler Cowen, coauthor of Winners around the World

  • “The Individualists is the definitive intellectual history of a movement that is the unacknowledged motive force behind much of postwar American politics and culture. Zwolinski and Tomasi provide an indispensable guide to libertarian ideas and an invaluable map to where the movement—and thus the country, if not the globe—is likely to head over the next generation.”

    Nick Gillespie, editor at large, Reason magazine

  • “One of the best guides you’ll find to the libertarian universe”

    Reason Magazine

  • "Zwolinski and Tomasi’s historical survey of the libertarian movement, warts and all, is uncommonly honest and comprehensive. Purely as exegesis, the book is without peer, and anyone who wants to know what libertarianism is should run, not walk, to pick it up.”

    Jacobin

  • “Matt Zwolinski and John Tomasi [are] both committed libertarians who are appalled at the movement’s turn toward a harder-edged conservatism….As they see it, libertarianism once had a left-of-center valence—and could still reclaim it.”

    Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker

  • “This important book has a long historical sweep while being urgent and timely. Zwolinski and Tomasi reclaim the radical and humane core of libertarianism at its best while honestly examining why it has so often failed to realize its promise. Libertarian thought and politics are at a moment of decision: continued alignment with an increasingly authoritarian and populist right or fulfillment of the liberal individualist vision of freedom. This is a book about that decision, and about choosing well.”

    Jacob T. Levy, McGill University

  • “If there is one lesson to take away from The Individualists, it’s that the meaning of libertarianism has always been contested and in flux, a movement more capacious than it is often given credit for…[it] doesn’t shy away from the ugly parts of libertarianism, but it highlights much more that libertarians can take pride in."

    Jacob Grier, The Washington Examiner

  • “This is a fine piece of work: erudite, but at just the right level of detail for the general reader; tightly organized and engagingly written. Over a range of issues, it traces libertarian thought from its nineteenth-century roots to its contemporary manifestations.”

    Andrew Koppelman, author of Burning Down the House

  • "The Individualists is a work of academic philosophy at once remarkably ambitious and highly accessible. Seasoned academics and general audiences will find much to enjoy in this crisply written, stimulating survey of the history of libertarian thought."

    The Independent Review

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