Taking Liberties

The British Library has had an impressive run of exhibitions in the last couple of years, and their confidence can be seen in this excellent, imaginative and thorough look at the history of civil liberties in the United Kingdom. Covering everything from the Magna Carta to CCTV, the exhibition doesn't stint on content as it covers in detail the Civil War, the Reform Act, Suffragettes, devolution, Spycatcher, the Human Rights Act and philosophical concepts of freedom from Hobbes, Berlin, Mill and Paine. Exhibits include copies of the Magna Carta and the US Declaration of Independence as well as Hogarth prints, seditionary material printed by Reformists, the Beveridge Report and film of Suffragettes. There's also a well thought-through interactive element in which you wear a wrist band that you scan before answering a series of questions related to civil liberties – everything from the role of the NHS to the need for an English Parliament – which then tells you where you stand on the political spectrum. Much more intelligent then your average exhibition, this is a welcome and valuable addition to the ongoing debate about personal freedom in the modern world. (Peter Watts)