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“Bureaucracy tries to establish so many administrative maxims that the minister is as narrowly controlled and guided as the judge.” — Lord Acton
About Lord Acton
 Described
as "the magistrate of history," Lord Acton was one of
the great personalities of the nineteenth century and is universally
considered to be one of the most learned Englishmen of his time.
He made the history of liberty his life's work; indeed, he considered
political liberty the essential condition and guardian of religious
liberty.
Books
 Selected
Writings of Lord Acton by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
Lord Acton was among the most illustrious historians of nineteenth-century
England, a man of great learning with a deep devotion to individual
liberty and a profound understanding of history. This is the most
complete collection of Acton essays ever published.
 The
History of Freedom by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
Lord Acton is popularly remembered for his pungent aphorisms –
"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely"
– but of far deeper significance was his lifelong study of
the history of freedom. It was a work never completed, for reasons
Professor Holland discusses in his introduction. But Acton's brilliant
insights, the fruit of his vast erudition, were forthcoming on rare
occasion, and never more powerfully than in the two lectures published
here. These writings are a precious heritage for the promise of
civilization in our time and forevermore.
 Professor
Lord Acton by Owen Chadwick
This lecture was delivered at Cambridge University on March 16,
1995 by Professor Owen Chadwick in celebration of the 100 years
since Lord Acton assumed the Regius Chair of Modern History. The
author, a distinguished Acton scholar who himself served as Regius
Professor, details the history of Acton's tenure at Cambridge, including
the intrigue surrounding his appointment, his lectures, his work
on the Cambridge Modern History, his philosophy of history,
and the influence he had on the writing of history in Britain.
Lord Acton:
A Study in Conscience and Politics by Gertrude Himmelfarb
The Political
Thought of Lord Acton: The English Catholics of the Nineteenth Century
by Rocco Pezzimenti
Lord Acton
by Roland Hill
Acton In America
by S. W. Jackman, Editor
Occasional Papers
 The
Legacy of an Education by James C. Holland
There were highly distinctive elements in the education of Lord
Acton. It is Professor Holland's contention that there was a direct
relationship between those elements and Acton's life work, including
his championing of an educated laity, free intellectual inquiry,
historical study as a conserver of truth, and the duty of the informed
historian to make moral judgments in history. In his energetic and
often brilliant pursuit of these causes, Lord Acton relentlessly
invoked the intellectual and moral canons acquired in his youth.
 Lord
Acton on Revolution by Russell Kirk
This writing examines Lord Acton's views on revolution. Although
he did not exactly approve of revolution, he was able to tolerate
it because he believed it increased freedom. This essay demonstrates
that Acton's views on revolution changed over time.
 Lord
Acton on the Historian by Josef L. Altholz
In this essay, Dr. Altholz describes Acton's rigorous approach to
the historian's vocation, especially focusing on his view of the
historical project in relation to religion and liberty. Altholz
examines Lord Acton's views on truth and truthfulness, as well as
Acton's differing opinions and eventual departure from his mentor,
Ignaz von Dollinger.
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