Liberty is contested because it is complex.
This collection of Acton\'s most important Historical and Moral Essays introduces.
It is all those things and many things besides; it is, as Lord Acton said, "the delicate fruit of a mature civilization." To understand this complex and contested idea, the best place to begin is with Acton himself, the foremost historian of liberty.
It is not merely a concern of political science or economy, an abstract philosophical concept, or a theological doctrine.
Liberty is contested because it is complex