The Road to Serfdom, the Definitive Edition

Text and Documents

By: F. A. Hayek, Bruce Caldwell - editor

Narrated by: William Hughes

An unimpeachable classic work in political philosophy, intellectual and cultural history, and economics, The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and the public for half a century. Originally published in 1944 - when Eleanor Roosevelt supported the efforts of Stalin, and Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program - The Road to Serfdom was seen as heretical for its passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production. For F. A. Hayek, the collectivist idea of empowering government with increasing economic control would lead not to a utopia but to the horrors of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

First published by the University of Chicago Press on September 18, 1944, The Road to Serfdom garnered immediate, widespread attention. The first printing of 2,000 copies was exhausted instantly, and within six months more than 30,000 books were sold. In April 1945, Reader's Digest published a condensed version of the book, and soon thereafter the Book-of-the-Month Club distributed this edition to more than 600,000 readers. A perennial best seller, the book has sold 400,000 copies in the United States alone and has been translated into more than 20 languages, along the way becoming one of the most important and influential books of the century.

With this new edition, The Road to Serfdom takes its place in the series the Collected Works of F. A. Hayek. The volume includes a foreword by series editor and leading Hayek scholar Bruce Caldwell explaining the book's origins and publishing history and assessing common misinterpretations of Hayek's thought. Caldwell has also standardized and corrected Hayek's references and added helpful new explanatory notes. Supplemented with an appendix of related materials ranging from prepublication reports on the initial manuscript to forewords to earlier editions by John Chamberlain, Milton Friedman, and Hayek himself, this new edition of The Road to Serfdom is the definitive version of Hayek's enduring masterwork.

©2007 Estate of F. A. Hayek (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

An excellent primer for beginners of economic hist

This book along with Friedman's Free to Choose can give the casual reader a strong base of knowledge of political theory tied with economics. Would highly recommend to supplement modern curriculum.

Probably better off reading

This is a very important book that doesn't translate well to audio form. It demands your full and careful attention; not a bad thing, just difficult to implement as background audio for multitasking.

Hughes narrates consistently and confidently. Great performance.

Timeless

This is a book that every American should read or listen to. It highlights the fallacies of today’s liberal politicians and economist by visiting the problems created by collect the best ideas 100 years ago. Unfortunately, those ideas continue to be pursued today to the detriment of our society, and erosion of our future.

Very relevant

I can not recommend sending this book to friends and family enough as the message is extremely relevant.

Very much relevant in the USA

This definitive edition of TRtS is a great work that takes big economic theory and a look at human collective motives and makes the digestable for the common reader. Hayek's work here is very relevant to the current situation that the US finds itself in, and I even found chills going down my spine about his predictions that could easily apply to modern day phenomena, such as Social media censorship. Worth your monthly audible credit if you are interested in economics at all.

Only criticism, is that this definitive edition can be hard to follow at first because of all the introduction/prologue pieces. But you will soon be past this.

I can’t believe I waited so long

This book is extremely relevant today. I’m going to get the physical version to reread parts. Its Jonah Goldberg’s ‘Liberal Fascism’ version 1.0.

must read, relates to current usa

must read for HS students.
this is an outsiders view of (at the time) current history (activities of the day). this is the best written warning of dont repete history. everyone of today thinks that their Marxist approach is new and never been tried. this accounting of the past events that lead to a fascist totalitarian government.

Very accessible

I loved this book but I would recommend you skip the first two and a half hours of introduction as it really doesn’t add a whole lot considering how much meat lies within.

As important as everyone says

It’s a classic for a reason and as important now as when it was written. A cogent, precise summary against collectivist thought in many forms.

As timely today as it was in 1944

This book is a warning about the pitfalls of falls of socialism from a primarily economic standpoint. Details the thoughts, beliefs and eventual outcomes of collectivism and the push for equity.