‘One of the things that we are keen to stress is that this project does not mean that we think that all e-books should be free or extremely cheap. We are being open that this promotion is a way of drawing attention to the book, he says. We are open minded about it and hope it’s a raging success‘

The content of Ben Wilson’s book has already received great acclaim from figures such as Tony Benn, and Terry Eagleton in the London Review of Books:

‘Ben Wilson’s book on liberty is brilliant, timely and readable’ Tony Benn

‘What Price Liberty? is an erudite, eminently readble account of British liberties from Stuart monarchy to multiculturalism, written in the conviction that as a society we have ‘lost the means to talk about liberty’ and urgently need to rediscover it. One of the most admirable aspects of What Price Liberty? is it’s refusal to play the Whiggish game. It is this which sets it apart from Dawkins’s The God Delusion, Christopher Hitchens’s God Is Not Great and A.C.Grayling’s Towards the Light. As this book demonstrates, liberties wax and wane, one person’s freedom is another’s restraint, political rights might be cancelled by economic ones, what you see as an inalienable right, I view as outrageous licence , and civilisation and barbarism march hand in hand’. Terry Eagleton, London Review of Books

An essential and utterly enlightening discussion, What Price Liberty? provides the material and arguments with which we can make sense of our times.

Fear of terrorism, crime, social chaos – factors which have put our ideal of individual liberty very much into retreat. Particularly in light of the debate surrounding 42-day detention, it is important to remind ourselves of just how complex the battle to achieve these rights has been. However, the question remains; how can we resist the growth of intrusive authoritarianism without exposing ourselves to crime, terrorism and other risks?

What Price Liberty? is available to download from www.whatpriceliberty.co.uk and will be published as a Trade Paperback on 2nd June 2009, £14.99.

Ben Wilson is a hugely talented young historian, and the only non fiction writer to appear in the Waterstone’s ’25 authors for the future’ list. His previous books include the highly acclaimed The Laughter of Triumph: William Hone and the Fight for the Free Press, and Decency and Disorder: The Age of Cant 1789-1837.