The Road to Serfdom is a book written by the Austrian-born economist and
philosopher Friedrich von Hayek (1899.1992) between 1940.1943, in which
he .warned of the danger of tyranny that inevitably results from
government control of economic decision-making through central planning,.
and in which he argues that the abandonment of individualism, liberalism,
and freedom inevitably leads to socialist or fascist oppression and
tyranny and the serfdom of the individual. Significantly, Hayek challenged
the general view among British academics that fascism was a capitalist
reaction against socialism, instead arguing that fascism and socialism
had common roots in central economic planning and the power of the state
over the individual.

The Road to Serfdom is among the most influential and popular expositions
of market libertarianism and remains a popular and influential work in
contemporary discourse, selling over two million copies, and remaining a
best-seller.

The Road to Serfdom was to be the popular edition of the second volume of
Hayek.s treatise entitled .The Abuse and Decline of Reason,. and the title
was inspired by the writings of the 19th century French classical liberal
thinker Alexis de Tocqueville on the .road to servitude.. The book was
first published in Britain by Routledge in March 1944, during World War II,
and was quite popular, leading Hayek to call it .that unobtainable book,.
also due in part to wartime paper rationing. It was published in the United
States by the University of Chicago Press in September 1944 and achieved
great popularity. At the arrangement of editor Max Eastman, the American
magazine Reader's Digest published an abridged version in April 1945,
enabling The Road to Serfdom to reach a wider popular audience beyond
academics.

The Road to Serfdom has had a significant impact on twentieth century
conservative and libertarian economic and political discourse and is often
cited today by commentators.

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