“Fairness and Freedom”:  A History of the US and NZ

It’s an important (and infrequent) opportunity when a Pulitzer Prize-winning author writes a thoroughly readable 500-page book about the history of New Zealand and the United States.

The US | NZ Council recommends “Fairness and Freedom:  A History of Two Open Societies  –  New Zealand and the United States” (2012) by Professor David Hackett Fischer to everyone interested in history and the bilateral relationship.The book compares the two nations with much in common.  Fischer writes, “Both have democratic politics, mixed-enterprise economies, individuated societies, pluralistic cultures, and deep concern for human rights and the rule of law.”But throughout our respective histories, these elements took different forms, because we emphasized different values.

 

For the United States, he argues, “the dream of living free” is America’s guiding principle.  For New Zealand, the idea of “fairness and natural justice” influences its society’s decisions and goals.

Join the US | NZ Council today and receive a free copy of “Fairness and Freedom.”  For more information, please click here.

To read reviews of the book, please click the below:

The Listener 5.11.12
The Listener 5.19.12
The Washington Post 2.17.12