The changing face of the liberal creed from the ancient world to todayThe Lost History of Liberalism challenges our most basic assumptions about a political creed that has become a rallying cry--and a term of derision--in todays increasingly divided public square. Taking readers from ancient Rome to today, Helena Rosenblatt traces the evolution of the words liberal and liberalism, revealing the heated debates that have taken place over their meaning. She debunks the popular myth of liberalism as a uniquely Anglo-American tradition, and shows how it was only during the Cold War that it was refashioned into an American ideology focused on individual freedoms. This timely and provocative book sets the record straight on a core tenet of todays political conversation, laying the foundations for a more constructive discussion about the future of liberal democracy.About the AuthorHelena Rosenblatt is professor of history at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. Her many books include Liberal Values: Benjamin Constant and the Politics of Religion and Thinking with Rousseau: From Machiavelli to Schmitt.