Originally published 50 years ago Schlesinger examines the politics of centrism, arguing for a resurgence of the middle way and for the techniques of freedom, rational methods for resolving problems and conducting discourse. The book is aimed at the extremes of fascism and communism.

The Vital Center is an eloquent and incisive defense of liberal democracy against its rivals to the left and to the right, communism and fascism. It shows how the failures of free society had led to the mass escape from freedom and sharpened the appeal of totalitarian solutions. It calls for a radical reconstruction of the democratic faith based on a realistic understanding of human limitation and frailty. "Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible", as Reinhold Niebuhr put it, "but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary". Though times and problems have changed, the spirit of The Vital Center -- liberalism without illusions -- remains as live and crucial as ever. Now this remarkable book is available to new generations.