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This is a high level philosophy book, one that requires a lot of previous reading on liberalism since the cold war, which I do not have. I have passing familiarity with many of the figures described in detail in the book, but that was NOT enough. It is hard to judge if Moyn is treating all these people fairly.

For me, what I got out of it is the fear of the modern liberal. The idea that Nazism, Communism, Authoritarianism, Populism are all products of earlier liberalism, and therefore that liberals can't trust themselves. And how after the Cold War, that fear drove many liberals to embrace a kind of philosophy that can only be described as dithering and weak. NOT forceful and persuasive.

I'm familiar with many of the conservative political arguments against the modern neoliberals. Being anti-woke is a kind of calling card for many in America today. I take it Moyn is dissatisfied with the thinkers who have led to these kind of failures. In the end, Moyn is making an argument for a new intellectual movement. One that goes back to the spirit of the enlightenment - not conservative, not afraid of liberal excess. This is an interesting book, but I can only recommend it for people very familiar with many of the leading thinkers of the last 100 years.