Inventing Human Rights

"Oh, this is a really brilliant book. It describes the struggle for human rights in Europe. For me the most important thing about all these books is to remind the people who live in democratic states and societies about how the struggle for human rights started 500 years ago. These modern people are able to enjoy the fruits of that struggle. Iraqi people say we need 500 years to put things right and become properly democratic but they are wrong. Books like this show us we can borrow the big ideas and use them to our benefit. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . Exactly. Think about the history of the wheel, which was invented over 3,000 years ago. We all have the benefit of that, so why shouldn’t we Iraqis get the benefit of things that have been developed elsewhere. We use things like Western medicines and Western cars so I don’t think we should start having a reaction against Western democracy. We should see what works with it and use it."