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Book reviews for "Skidelsky,_Robert" sorted by average review score:

God's Fifth Column: A Biography of the Age 1890-1940
Published in Hardcover by Overlook Press (1991)
Authors: William Gerhardie, Robert Skidelsky, and Michael Holroyd
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Should be read by every student of the humanities.
In an age of diminished expectations, this book remains a source of hope. A strong argument is made that politicians do not infact define an era, nor are they the fount of understanding.


John Maynard Keynes: Fighting for Britain 1937-1946 (Keynesian Studies)
Published in Hardcover by Pan Macmillan (10 November, 2000)
Author: Robert Skidelsky
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A Major Force with Enduring Influence
In this, the third and concluding volume of his biography of Keynes, Skidelsky offers a brilliant analysis of one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. Skidelsky offers a remarkable discussion of the man (as opposed to the icon) whose influence seems to have fluctuated according to conventional (received?) wisdom with regard to fundamental economic principles. Economists have either agreed or disagreed about the value of Keynes's ideas (often with more heat than light) since the publication of his major work, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936). As a non-economist, I have only casually observed how his principles have gone in and out of favor as the national economy itself improves, flattens out, weakens, improves, etc. I enjoyed this book because it connected a human being with the principles to which so many others have referred in books and articles. Also because, as international trade accelerates in terms of both scope and depth (largely because of the Internet and the WWW), the role of government in each country will inevitably change...especially governments in those countries which were formerly members of the U.S.S.R. as well as in other countries in Asia, notably China. Thanks to Skidelsky's book, I am now much better prepared to recognize and understand such changes. I wish I had read the second volume in the trilogy (subtitled "The Economist as Savior") before reading this one. Those who read this review are urged to do so. However, judged wholly on its own merits, this final volume (subtitled "Fighting for Freedom") is a first-rate achievement.


John Maynard Keynes: The Economist As Savior 1920-1937: A Biography
Published in Paperback by Penguin USA (Paper) (1995)
Author: Robert Skidelsky
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When you we get volume 3?
A great book about a great man. The development of Keynes' thought is handled well, although some more discussion around possible sources of some of his ideas would have been welcome. Several books about his Bloomsbury freinds have emerged recently, and it is interesting to compare perceptions. I'm uncomfortable with Skidelsky's analysis of Keynesian theory which strikes me as too much of a shoe-horning of Keynes into a classical framework, but I'm hardly an expert. All in all a book to be savoured, and an essential item in one's library.


Keynes (Past Masters)
Published in Paperback by Oxford University Press (1996)
Authors: Robert Skidelsky, John Ma Ynard Keynes, and Jacob Alexander
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brief and valuable; presumes some understanding of economics

Skidelsky's three-volume biography of Keynes has just been completed (to much acclaim, I think it's fair to say). One wonders, then, for whom he might have intended the short book I'm now reviewing.

An early chapter covers Keynes' life in as much detail as you could expect from a slim volume whose main emphasis is on its subject's work. (The series of which it is a part aims at providing "introductions to the thought of leading intellectual figures".) A valuable bridge between the "life" and the "work" is given by a chapter on Keynes' philosophy, showing that his early studies of probability drew on issues that were of fundamental concern to him throughout his career--and playing down, incidentally, the importance of any consistent political philosophy.

Two chapters follow on specific books: one on the earlier works, and one on the General Theory itself. It's here that I'd caution those who've had no previous exposure to macroeconomics, warning them that Skidelsky may be fair in his judgments and clear in his exposition, but that the issues are necessarily technical; to those who are not economists, these chapters will not be easy reading.

The concluding two chapters cover Keynes' activities as a "statesman" in the '30s and '40s and, finally, his "legacy". Skidelsky concludes that Keynesian thought has had its day, if only because the experiences of the '60s and '70s have destroyed confidence in the very possibility of "Keynesian" solutions. Yet his is no hatchet job on Keynesian thought. Not only does he point out that Keynes can't be blamed for his followers' mistakes--an obvious point that Skidelsky is wise not to press too far--but he also offers a fairly nuanced explanation, given his limited space, of the lack of popularity enjoyed by Keynesian thought over the past thirty years or so. (There was much more at work than just the oil crises of the '70s, to mention only the factor most commonly cited in introductory texts.)

I should at this point confess that I have a doctorate in economics, and that I teach undergraduates. I say "confess", because I find myself regrettably unable to evaluate Skidelsky's accuracy and judgment. As I said earlier, his interpretation certainly does not seem to be idiosyncratic, but I suppose there's always the possibility that he's presenting only one side of a well-known, if arcane, academic debate. If so, however, it's unfamiliar to me.

To sum up, I'd recommend this book to economists who need a little brushing up (and who could follow Skidelsky's advice about which chapters of the General Theory they really must read, and which they should skip), but also to political scientists, historians and the like who are roughly familiar with the period and who'd like to understand the views of a major economist. The good old "general reader" (if any such remain) might well enjoy this book too, but it is likely to require--and to reward--their close attention.


Oswald Mosley
Published in Audio Cassette by Sussex Publications Ltd (1982)
Author: Robert Skidelsky
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An Extraordinary Biography
This book traces the strange but true story of an unquestionably brilliant British politician who eventually came to realize he should never have put on the fascist uniform that ruined his career. And even before Churchill thought of it, Mosley said europeanism must now replace nationalism


The Road from Serfdom: The Economic and Political Consequences of the End of Communism
Published in Paperback by Penguin USA (Paper) (1997)
Author: Robert Skidelsky
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A good book for disillusioned liberals
Thirty years ago I would have identified myself as "A" liberal. Now I say I am liberal, but I can't identify with modern-day liberalism. Sometimes I say that I am a 19th century liberal. Until I read this book, I found this confusing.

The author shows that liberalism has been co-opted by collectivists (socialists) who have perverted the original liberal ideal.

Skidelsy's analysis of historians, philosopers, sociologists, and priests is exquisite (p. 163), and his conclusion about the difference between capitalist democracies and communist countries is profound (p. 196).

Liberalism was originally an ideal that promised to liberate people from supersition, servitude, and ignorance. It has turned into a system that is having the opposite affect.

I infer from this reading that there is a natural tension between the halves and the half nots. However, economists and social planners are just a bunch of thirds.

This a book well worth reading.


Three Great Economists: Smith, Malthus, Keynes (Past Masters)
Published in Paperback by Oxford University Press (1997)
Authors: D. D. Raphael, Donald Winch, and Robert Skidelsky
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Indispensable
Three individually published volumes in the Past Masters Series are now published together. Written by three authorities on their subjects, this volume offers a very good balance between the lives and the work of three great economists. Indispensable for the beginner, the three essays are original scholarly contributions to the history of economic thought. They are also a delight to read.


John Maynard Keynes: Hopes Betrayed 1883-1920
Published in Paperback by Penguin USA (Paper) (1994)
Author: Robert Skidelsky
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Deep and relealing, a true insight.
Hopes betrayed is an exceptionally well researched and insightful book. The author goes into detail, and confirms previously unspoken truths about Keynes early life. It pays particular attention to Keynes homosexuality, such as his long held affections for Duncan Grant, and also his relationships, coiteries, and philosophies. Personally I found the chapters deailing Keynes' influence in the war most interesting.

Although the book goes into ample detail, it is a little dry, and possibly lacks a little life. One sometimes feels as if there are a few too many quotes, names and places. This somewhat detracts from the interest of the book.

However, overall anyone who is curious as to what made father of modern economics ought to read this book.

A would-be philosopher turned economist
John Maynard Keynes' life faithfully portrayed by Robert Skidelsky, is a life of a man grown up amidst the intelectual aristocracy of his time, which coincided with the beginning of the downfall of the Victorian age and was to culminate in the First World War. His father John Neville Keynes was a famous economist of his time and had many other intelectual atributes which he didn't want to put up to test in the academic arena, despite a lot of incentives by the famous economist Alfred Marshall, the most proeminent thinker of the neo-classics school of thought. Neville Keynes was determined instead to follow closely and have influence upon the professional careers of his most inteligent son. To anyone who whished to compare this situation to the education the philosopher James Mill gave to his son John Stuart Mill, I would warn he/she to be cautious cause the result is very much different than could be foresaw.
What the book shows is the fascinating formative years of one of the most influential men of all times, who had a strong appetite for getting all the knowledge he could get and who didn't hide behind his geniality. Quite to the contrary, Keynes was up for everything he could grab, be it different sexual male partners, a lot of trips to Italy and a lot of academic prizes, estimulated by the spirit of competion his father tried to assert on him, at the end to no avail. Also, the pace of his intelectual output is outstanding, being Keynes almost always pushed to the limit to do a lot of different things at the same time.
Some crude aspects of Keynes sexual life are also all there via the transcriptions of the many letters he exchanged with his male lovers and friends of the many different intelectual cycles he was part of.
His education at the noblest institutions in England (Eton and Cambridge)where he got the opportunity to intermingle with the likes of Bertrand Russell, Virginia Wolf, Whitehead and the philosopher Moore, the latter certainly the most fundamental influence he had in these formative years, provided the social and intelectual backgrounds needed to awake the geniality of the most brilliant economist of the last century.

A comprehensive account of Keynes' precocious early life.
Robert Skidelsky provides a punctilious account of the most influential economist of the 20th century and the intellectual and social milieu's that shaped him. Keynes is easily the most recognizable name in 20th century economics, followed somewhat closely by John Kenneth Galbraith and Milton Friedman.

In the book's preface, Skidelsky claims he was the first biographer to attempt to go into detail about Keynes' hitherto undiscussed homosexual relationships. The most notable and emotionally involved of these affairs occured with painter and fellow Bloomsbury member Duncan Grant. Skidelsky confirms that Keynes also slept with Bloomsbury biographer Lytton Strachey. Several corresponding letters between Keynes and Strachey not only confirm this, but a subsequent sexual rivalry over the affections of Grant. G.E. Moore's 'Principia Ethica' unquestionably wrought out a strong influence on Keynes and Strachey's radical sexual attitudes after they had read it. Some unfastidious anti-Keynesians have tried to tie in Keynes' early predispositions to homosexuality (he later in life married a Russian Ballet dancer named Lydia Lopokova) with his rejection of the gold standard. This probably isn't a valid argument, given the level of abstraction Keynes' mind reached at an early age to develop and entertain such unorthadox methods.

Keynesian economics has been repudiated by many laissez-faire proponents over the past two decades. The most well reasoned of these critiques have come from Friedman and Robert Lucas; who have each received Nobel Prizes for their work. Notwithstanding, both pale in comparison with the impact Keynesianism has had on post-WW2 macroeconomics.

Whether or not you're an unyeilding Keynesian or a free market capitalist, you'll find it impossible not to marvel at this remarkable biography of a remarkable man. Keynes should be included at the top of anyone's list of the 20th century's most important intellectuals.


John Maynard Keynes: A Biography: Hope Betrayed, 1883-1920
Published in Hardcover by Viking Press (1986)
Author: Robert Jacob Alexander Skidelsky
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Out of your expectation
It's unexpectedly well decscibed how's Keynes in his childhood. He's in fact a well-spoken, witty gentleman with its charms inside which is mysterious. How could he become such a great economist, how he invent the theories, how he generated such a beautiful mind. It talked about Keynes' life in Eton College( a fundamental place for him to grow up and how his schoolmates affect him), and more is in King's College,Cambridge( which definitely a crucial turning point in Keynes' life) which included keynes' letter which he sent expressed his point of views, his love to Duncan. His writings were precise but in-depth. Moreover, it also includes a lot of cultural background informations which is like Cambridge traditions.It's a must-read book if you like Keynes.


John Maynard Keynes: Fighting for Freedom, 1937-1946
Published in Paperback by Penguin USA (Paper) (2002)
Author: Robert Skidelsky
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The Inimitable Dickens
With chapters written in the varying voices of Wilkie Collins (friend to Dickens and author of novels of such novels as 'The Woman in White'), Georgina Hogarth (the sister of Dickens' wife, Catherine), and Ellen Ternan (the young actress/mistress to Dickens), Rackham gives the reader creative perspective into the life of the 'inimitable' author. There is much to speculate because Dickens, in true Victorian fashion, did everything in his power to keep his public from finding out about his private life. He went so far as to have seasonal bonfires, his children assisted him, tossing into them all of his paperwork and letters. In fact, after his death, the only link to his private comings and goings were coded messages in a day journal.

This book covers the last phase of Dickens' life: his separation/dissolution of marriage with Catherine Hogarth, his final trip to America (which made him a lot of money - more than 15,000 pounds), and work on novels like 'Great Expectations', 'Our Mutual Friend', and 'Edwin Drood'. What Rackham tries to explore through his narrative characters is what Dickens, the man, was really like. There were social and familial pressures that tied the author down. He made a lot of money throughout his career, but wasn't to able to enjoy the fruits of his labors; his sons were a disappointment to him, his celebrity was often a too heavy responsibility, and his marriage was dragged through tabloidal mud - surprisingly, via his own pen.

It isn't even known - just assumed - if his relationship with the young Ternan was consummated. They met on the stage... [Dickens took great interest in the stage - often working side by side with actors on productions. His dramatic readings of novel excerpts oftentimes garnered more pay than publications. It is said that his final emphatic reading from 'Oliver Twist' (the scene where Nancy is murdered) led to his death.] Rackham does a wondrous job filling in the tenderest gaps.

'Rag and Bone' is an eye-opener. Read it along with a good biography - try 'The Friendly Dickens' (an enjoyable read) or Angus Wilson's 'Life of Charles Dickens.'
And, of course, read Dickens. His body of work is a real treasure - don't just skim either. 'Great Expectations', 'Copperfield', and 'Christmas Carol' are fabulous, but you get the best sense of his comic genius and characterization in 'Pickwick', 'Nicholas Nickleby', 'Dombey & Son'...


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