[Editor’s Note: This following article is an adaptation of the introduction to Libertarian Literary and Media Criticism: Essays in Memory of Paul A. Cantor, Edited by Jo Ann Cavallo (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2025. Paul Cantor was (1945-2022) was a student of Ludwig von Mises and an important contributor to mises.org on topics of the intersection between markets and culture.]This collection of essays by experts in diverse fields applies libertarian philosophy and free-market economic theory to literature and media. The volume proceeds largely according to the chronological order of the works under consideration, moving from sixteenth-century literary texts and drama to comic books to contemporary cinema and television series. Several chapters bring to bear the contrast between capitalism

Although liberty is a recurring concern in Machiavelli’s writings, there is no consensus regarding either the definition of the concept or its relevance for his overall political thought.