Authority and the Individual. The Reith Lectures for 1948-9.

First edition in book form. Small 8vo. 125, [3, publisher's advertisements], [1] pp., frontispiece portrait of Russell. Original pale yellow cloth, spine and front cover lettered in green, top edge in green, dust jacket (contents clean and fresh; minor shelf wear to jacket with a few tiny nicks to extremities, notwithstanding an excellent copy). London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

The inaugural Reith Lectures, originally broadcast weekly over the BBC starting 26 December 1948, and serialised in The Listener, in which Russell sought to consider the following problem: 'how can we combine that degree of individual initiative which is necessary for progress with the degree of social cohesion that is necessary for survival?' He asks what role government should take in the creation of this balance; arguing for the liberating effects of decentralisation and devolution, while at the same time noting the necessity of certain governmental controls on private initiative. 'The lectures were indicative of the new emphasis in Russell's interests, where philosophy was effectively giving way to human affairs, international relations and the future of the human race' (Clark, The Life of Bertrand Russell, p. 504).

Blackwell & Ruja, A84.1a.

Stock Code: 253767