Brian Doherty’s “Radicals For Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement” is the perfect text for any individual seeking to learn more about the pro-liberty movement. Charting the beginnings of pro-liberty ideologies in 19^th century America and following their development into the 21^st century, Doherty’s work is expansive and thorough.

Certainly, the text is visually overwhelming – at 741 pages, it’s an intimidating tome to people our age – but the readability of the book and its consistently engaging narrative makes it as close to a page-turner as an exhaustive political history can be.

Indeed, Doherty’s writing lives up to the spirit of the book’s “Freewheeling” moniker as the author moves from a description of a libertarian-esque commune in 19^th century America to a discussion of how one of the nation’s early private post offices was destroyed by the government.

Of course, much of the work’s readability is due to the many quirks of the libertarian movement in America and the eccentricities of its dominant personalities. Tales of the peculiarities within Ayn Rand’s inner-circle or the walkout staged by the libertarians at the 1969 Young Americans For Freedom convention make for great reading even if you’re not interested in the minutiae of libertarian thought over the last two centuries.

Most importantly, the book is an engaging and thorough history of libertarian ideas at the same time that it is one of libertarian organizations and personalities. As someone whose never been exposed to a history of the ideas behind libertarianism, I found myself encountering totally new political thought in many of the book’s chapters.

That being said, readers should not approach the book as a single experience but as part of broader education and the book itself should be considered one resource in this education. For instance, Doherty briefly discussed libertarian luminaries Frederic Bastiat and Gustave de Molinari and I took down a few titles of books they authored and added them to my reading list.

The point is that, if used properly, Doherty’s history can point readers in the direction of some fantastic libertarian thinkers and books that otherwise go unnoticed in the Austrian and Rand dominated libertarian culture of the 21^st century. In this way, “Radicals For Capitalism” is  a perfect starting point for new libertarians and people interested in the movement at the same time that it is an illuminating read for individuals well-versed in libertarian thought.

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