Nicholas Lezard's choice

Inventing the Individual: the Origins of Western Liberalism by Larry
Siedentop – review

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   It comes towards the end of this remarkable book, which made me rethink
   a great deal. Like many, I had assumed that notions of individual
   liberty didn’t come into play until the latter end of the
   Enlightenment. It was something to do with Voltaire, perhaps, or the
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   Enlightenment. It was something to do with Voltaire, perhaps, or the
   second sentence of the American Declaration of Independence. If the
   Church had anything to do with individuality, it was as a brake on it,
   or a countermeasure. We were all just anonymous units before the power
   of God.
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   it, mind-bending.

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