Mill's attempt, in "On Liberty", to defend a principle of liberty on utilitarian grounds was attacked by traditional interpreters who saw his distinction between actions concerning only the agent and others as crude. The author, in these essays, re-interprets and defends Mill's work. In addition he shows how Mill's views of freedom developed from his early backgroud and the extent of the continuity with his Utilitarian inheritance. Thus the book has a chronological framework, from early influences to contemporary critics and at the same time moves forward philosophically towards an interpretation of Mill's much disputed principle.