The fight for freedom – waged by warriors, democrats, politicians, slaves, civil rights leaders, free-thinkers and ordinary human beings – has stirred passions for thousands of years. This moving narrative recounts the exploits of leaders such as Spartacus, Boadicea, Lincoln and Gandhi, through to heroes of the modern age – Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi. Their enemies have been despots – for example Persia’s Emperor Xerxes, Stalin and Hitler – but sometimes also religions, ideologies, and even liberation movement leaders who became new tyrants.

Concise and accessible, this book introduces a subject at the forefront of human concerns, and examines its triumphs and the failures. The struggle never ends, and at crucial times it has brought the best out of human beings. Despite setbacks and controversies, the fight for freedom is a heart-warming story of human endeavour that has enriched mankind.