Nobody's Perfect

Is history driven more by principle or interest? Are ideas of historical progress obsolete? Is it unforgivable to change one's mind or political allegiance? Did the 18th century really exchange the civilizing force of commercial advantage for political conflict? In this account of liberal thought from its roots in 17th-century English thinking to the end of the 18th century, Annabel Patterson tackles these important historiographical questions. She rescues the term Whig from the low regard attached to it; denies the primacy of self-interest in the political struggles of Georgian England; and argues that while Whigs may have strayed from liberal principles on occasion (nobody's perfect), nevertheless many were true progressives.