In this incisive collection of essays which appeared originally in The New Criterion, ten distinguished critics and observers examine the origins and prospects of liberalism, from its roots in thinkers such as Rousseau and Mill to its troubled legacy in twentieth-century pursuits, and its compromising effects in the moral and intellectual life of our culture. Its contributors include Roger Scruton, Keith Windschuttle, Hadley Arkes, Robert Conquest, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Robert Kagan, John Silber, John O'Sullivan, Hilton Kramer, and Roger Kimball. Genuinely provocative."-Kirkus Reviews.