I Chose Liberty: Autobiographies of Contemporary Libertarians

Walter Block leaned on 82 of the world’s most prominent libertarian thinkers and asked them to tell their life stories with an eye to intellectual development. The result is the most comprehensive collection of libertarian autobiographies ever published. Their stories are thrilling and fascinating. They reveal their main influences, their experiences, their choices, and their ambitions.

There are some very interesting lessons here for everyone. We learn what gives rise to serious thought about liberty and what causes a person to dedicate a professional career or vocation to the cause. We also discover some interesting empirical information about the most influential libertarian writers.

How people come to believe what they believe is a mysterious issue, but an important one to examine. The results have profound strategic implications for the future. If there is a theme that emerges here, it is that it is that the most powerful and effective message of liberty is the one that is both smart and truth telling, not the one that is evasive or consciously dumbed down. The two most influential libertarians that emerge from the contest here are Rothbard and Rand, and this is for a reason.

This volume bears close study by anyone who is considering strategic issues. So far as we know, it is the first book of its kind, one sure to play a larger role in the future crafting of the message and scholarship of human liberty.

Among those who contributed: James C.W. Ahiakpor, D.T. Armentano, Charles W. Baird, Norman Barry, Toby Baxendale, James T. Bennett, Bruce L. Benson, David Berglan,d Walter Block, Burton S. Blumer,t Peter Boettke, Sam Bostaph, Hardy Bouillon, Bryan Caplan, Alejandro Chafuen, Brooks Colburn, Dan Cristian Comanescu, Roy Cordato, Jim Cox Tyler Cowen, Dora de Ampuero, Karen De Coster, Thomas J. DiLorenzo, Michael Edelstein , Richard A. Epstein, Max Falque, Robert Formaini, Douglas E. French, Bettina Bien Greaves, James Gwartney, Roy Halliday, Ronald Hamowy, Ernest Hancock, John Hasnas, Randall G. Holcombe, John Hospers, Stephan Kinsella, Robert Klassen, Dan Klein, Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard, Robert Lawson, Leonard P. Liggio, Roderick T. Long, Alvin Lowi, Jr., Heath MacCallum, Daniel McCarthy, Tibor R. Machan, Eric Mack, Jude Chua Soo Meng, Roberta Adelaide Modugno, Andrew P. Napolitano, Jan Narveson, David F. Nolan, Gary North, James Ostrowski, E.C. Pasour, Jr., Ron Paul, Nando Pelusi, Lawrence W. Reed, George Reisman, Jeff Riggenbach, Llewellyn Rockwell, Jr., Mary Ruwart, Joseph T. Salerno, James V. Schall, Ken Schoolland, Chris Matthew Sciabarra, Larry J. Sechrest, Jeremy Shearmur, Joseph Sobran, Robert Stewart, Alexander Tabarrok, Mark Thornton, Jerome Tuccille, Gordon Tullock, e Frank van Dun, Marc J. Victor, Peter Walters, Richard W. Wilcke, Anne Wortham, Steven Yates, and Fernando Zanella