Free-Born John: A Biography of John Lilburne [Paperback]

Pauline Gregg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2001

"I neither love a slave nor fear a tyrant." Thus spoke John Lilburne, one of the 17th century's most vivid figures. Head of the Levellers, it was he, over 300 years ago, who spelled out to the English the true meaning of democracy. An agitator supreme, he stopped at nothing to further his cause--whether it meant attacking Cromwell or King Charles I, or "stage managing" his own trial for life as though it were a play. He had no equal. ..."successfully conveys the nature of his personality as well as his ideas...authoritative and illuminating..."--C.V. Wedgwood, Daily Telegraph.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Sterling Publishing (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842122002
• ISBN-13: 978-1842122006
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #808,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Bio of Paleo-libertarian Hero!, November 17, 2002

By 

David H Miller "rothbardianphysicist" (Sacramento, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Free-Born John: A Biography of John Lilburne (Paperback)

John Lilburne, a brilliant pamphleteer and a passionately courageous political agitator, was the most prominent leader of the paleo-libertarian "Leveller" movement during the English Civil War of the seventeenth century.

Lilburne was tossed into prison both under the monarchy of Charles I and by the republican regime of Oliver Cromwell. Lilburne was a fervent defender of freedom of speech, of the press, and of religion. He was also an unyielding supporter of economic freedom and of the rights of private property.

Pauline Gregg, herself a democratic socialist, found it difficult to comprehend how Lilburne could be both a defender of civil liberties and a proponent of economic freedom, but she nonetheless accurately reports Lilburne's beliefs and libertarian philosophy. In a brief review, it is difficult to convey how vividly Gregg depicts the events Lilburne experienced and the courage and integrity which illuminated Lilburne's life.

Aside from his political commitments, Lilburne was also, from a mainstream twenty-first-century perspective, a religious fanatic: metaphorically speaking, he was "drunk on God." In terms of understanding the history of natural-rights/libertarian philosophy, this is a crucial fact: historically speaking, the Lockean libertarian philosophy of the American founding was born among passionate evangelical Christians, such as John Lilburne, in seventeenth-century Britain.

That historical fact is an embarrassment to modern mainstream libertarians. The mainstream modern libertarian movement, whether in the Libertarian Party, in the "Objectivist" movement founded by Ayn Rand, or in various independent think tanks, is firmly anti-religious and is dedicated to an "anything-goes" philosophy that hates government becuase of a hatred of any sort of social or ethical authority which restrains an individual from pursuing his or her own individual whims and desires.

Free-Born John is a reproach to these modern-day "libertarians." Lilburne would surely have agreed with present-day libertarians about ending the War on Drugs, abolishing the income tax, etc. But Lilburne would have seen liberation from paternalistic government and the reinstatement of natural rights as merely the first step along a path upon which an individual tried to live his life as a creature made in the image of God.

There is a dissident movement among modern libertarians, the so-called "paleo-libertarians," who take the natural-law, natural-rights perspective of John Lilburne seriously (the paleos are best represented by the Mises Institute and the Center for Libertarian Studies, both of whom offer Websites and a number of books which are available here on amazon.com). Unlike the libertarian mainstream, the "paleos" are not reflexively hostile to religion, hateful of any social authority or traditions, nor focused solely on the satisfaction of egoistic, material desires.

If you are a "paleo-libertarian," you will love this book. If you are a mainstream libertarian or a non-libertarian, you will find John Lilburne as enigmatic as did Ms. Gregg. But if you make the effort to understand this man's mind and character, you may come to better understand the nature of human liberty and of the human condition.

5.0 out of 5 stars Why does everybody know Thomas Paine and nobody knows John Lilburne?, March 24, 2011

By 

J. Aronson (South Hadley, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Free-Born John: A Biography of John Lilburne (Paperback)

It is often said we learn by example. If you think you might be a libertarian or a constitutionalist and also think that the distinctions that can be made between something that might be called a "democracy" and a functioning "constitutional democracy" are not trivial or pedantic then John Lilburne is a name you should know.

As the other reviewer pointed out, the term "libertarian" is being used rather loosely these days if any politician in office, except for Ron Paul, can be called a libertarian. That is sad.

Lilburn's importance is his insistence that a written constitution must be interpreted literally. For Lilburne there is no room in a constitutional democracy for "living constitutions", "evolving social contracts" or consideration of "original intent" that wanders beyond the "four corners" of the written document.

Lilburn was a Leveller, of sorts, but it seems he preferred the title "Agitator." He lived, wrote, published and agitated during the English civil wars of the 17th Century. He was tried in the Star Chamber and by both the House of Lords and the House of Commons where he insisted that he could not be compelled to testify against himself and that these bodies had no constitutional jurisdiction to try him for anything. He was a passionate advocate for the individual liberty of speech and conscience at a time when unpopular speech and beliefs could well be a capital offence. He was thrown into the Tower of London by both the Charles I and Oliver Cromwell.

The core of his thinking was that a constitution is the written agreement between the government and the individuals being governed and that the terms of this agreement may not be breached or interpreted away by courts or legislatures. He believed that the only way to amend a constitution is by the affirmative vote of every individual who will have to live under the amended constitution. John Lilburne would have been quite pleased with the US Constitution of 1788 but he would not have been pleased about the way its terms have been interpreted away since 1803.

This book is really just a biography and does not pay that much attention to the political theories that motivated most of Lilburn's actions. For that you have to read rather broadly in the field of constitutional theory.