A lawyer, political activist, and sometime candidate in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Barnes argues that the Western ideals of liberty and equality have evolved through a series of confrontations over the centuries, and that the architects of these ideals were men and women of extraordinary courage and substantial education. He traces that process through such stages as the long life of lying, the half-life of feudalism and the birth of law, the birth of a republic, special courts again, the law of nations ignored, beyond pure self-interest, beyond bribery, and finding direction in a time of chaos. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)