Makers of American ideology: John Locke and Adam Smith as misunderstood founding fathers

David Armitage: review of

• AMERICA’S PHILOSOPHERAMERICA’S PHILOSOPHER: John lifeJohn Locke in American intellectual life. ClaIre Rydell Arcena. (280pp. University of Chicago Press. US $35).
• ADAM SMITH’S AMERICA: How a Scottish philosopher became an icon of American capitalism. Glory LiuGlory M. Liu. (384pp. Princeton University Press. US $35).

Healthy correction. Great writing. (Not every review on Locke or Smith is peppered with references to Les Misérables or Generalfeldmarschall Helmuth von Moltke).