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Sailing Free: What Law in Medieval Iceland Can Teach Us Today

  • Adam Smith Institute 23 Great Smith Street London SW1P 3DJ United Kingdom (map)

If you can’t make it in person, you can join the Zoom livestream of this event (beginning at 6:30pm) by clicking here

Dr Gabriel Stein and John Nugeé’s new book ‘Sailing Free’ uses the history of the Icelandic Commonwealth to explore questions of politics, religion and sovereignty: themes which are just as relevant today as they were a thousand years ago.

From about 930 CE onwards there was no king, no government, no army and no police (and so no state monopoly of violence). One might expect such a system to be inherently unstable and not survive very long, but it lasted for over 300 years. As a libertarian experiment it has much therefore that is worth studying.

About the authors:

John Nugeé is an independent commentator and public speaker on financial, economic and political issues. He currently lectures in Politics and Economics at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. Previous books include: Confessions of a Business Traveller, Reflections on Global Finance, The Wisdom of Markets, and A Psalm a Day.

Gabriel Stein is an independent macroeconomist with more than thirty years experience, specialising in monetary trends. He regularly guest lectures at universities in a number of countries; and from 2019 to 2021 he taught a course on EU Politics and Policy at St Mary’s University Twickenham. He is currently undertaking a PhD in Economics History at the University of Buckingham. In addition to Sailing Free, he has written three historical novels that take place in the Byzantine Empire.

Full details:

Date: Tuesday, 12th April 2022

Time: 18:00 - 20:00

Agenda:

18.00 - Doors open + welcome drinks

18.30 - Lecture starts 

19.15 - Q&A 

20.00 - Event closes

For more information or to secure your place, please contact events@adamsmith.org



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