Omniquest Selection Summer 2013

The summer selection is Ladies for Liberty by John Blundell, a friend of Northwood University who has already guest-lectured on all three residential campuses. Mr. Blundell is the author of Margaret Thatcher: A Portrait of the Iron Lady (NYC: Algora, 2008) and Waging the War of Ideas (London: IEA, 3rd revised and expanded edition 2007). He wrote the current work while a Visiting Fellow of The Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC. He also serves as Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs, London, UK where he was Director General from 1993 through 2009.

As Blundell explains, “Throughout the United States’ history, women have played an intrinsic role in the movement for liberty. Ladies for Liberty combats the myth that women want, and benefit from, big government. The women portrayed in these pages believed that self-determination is a virtue, and that individuals should be allowed to pursue their own ends, free from the coercion of others.

Ladies for Liberty is an inspiring read for any American, but especially for modern-day female patriots…Blundell moves chronologically through American history and the freedoms for which women have fought – freedom from government oppression and over-taxation, freedom from slavery, freedom to vote and freedom to succeed as an entrepreneur…Thank you, Mr. Blundell, for providing so many superb examples of women after whom modern-day female patriots can model ourselves.

-Jamie Story, former President, The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

How did Mr. Blundell select the 20 women for this book? As he explains, “…they had to have had an inner core of principles that could clearly be seen to be pro-liberty, pro individual responsibility, free markets, private property rights and the rule of law….there had to be some jaw-dropping achievement in their stories…I wanted to present a range of brilliant successes by century, geography, and area of expertise. And finally there should be as little overlap as possible – women have made outstanding achievements in so many fields.”

Ladies for Liberty is wholly consistent with the Northwood Idea and we hope you will enjoy this publication.