'It's a free country!', we say, when we want to make our own decisions, or express our own ideas. Easily said: but what really makes a society free? Written in 1859, John Stuart Mill's On Liberty still provides the classic answer. As we enter the third millennium, few of our societies would pass Mill's test of true freedom! George Myerson's lively text: investigates the background to Mill's On Liberty; offers a clear and concise summary of the whole book; gives close-up explanations of the most important arguments; offers a critical appreciation of Mill's contribution to the theory of human liberty. the facts...the concepts...the ideas...