The Road to Serfdom

London: George Routledge & Sons, 1944 VG+/VG-. 8vo. original black cloth gilt (a little rubbed & nicked, slight toning and spotting to paperstock) in dustwrapper (price-clipped, a little toned and frayed with some chipping at extremities, small piece detached, but mostly complete and presentable); pp. viii, 184. A very good copy of a significant first edition in the rare jacket. The title was inspired by the writings of the 19th century French classical liberal thinker Alexis de Tocqueville on the "road to servitude". In the book, Hayek "[warns] of the danger of tyranny that inevitably results from government control of economic decision-making through central planning.". He further argues that the abandonment of individualism and classical liberalism inevitably leads to a loss of freedom, the creation of an oppressive society, the tyranny of a dictator, and the serfdom of the individual. Hayek challenged the view, popular among British Marxists, that fascism (including Nazism) was a capitalist reaction against socialism. He argued that fascism, Nazism and state-socialism had common roots in central economic planning and empowering the state over the individual. A highly influential book popular amongst post-war conservative thinkers, it was initially produced in a small print run under wartime economy measures, leading Hayek himself to describe it as "that unobtainable book".. First Edition. Hard Cover. VG+/VG-.