Author:Alexis Tocqueville,Isaac Kramnick,Gerald Bevan
One of the most influential political texts ever written on America, and an indispensable authority on the nature of democracy
In 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat and civil servant, made a nine-month journey through eastern America. The result was Democracy in America, a monumental study of the strengths and weaknesses of the nation's evolving politics. Tocqueville looked to the flourishing democratic system in America as a possible model for post-revolutionary France, believing its egalitarian ideals reflected the spirit of the age. This edition, the only one that contains all Tocqueville's writings on America, includes the rarely translated 'Two Weeks in the Wilderness', an evocative account of Tocqueville's travels among the Iroquois and Chippeway, and 'Excursion to Lake Oneida'.
Translated by Gerald Bevan with an Introduction and Notes by Isaac Kramnick
A wonderful book ... a remarkable study in leadership
—— Barack ObamaThe most uplifting book that I have read in the last two decades. Sensational
—— Jon SnowI have not enjoyed a history book as much for years
—— Robert Harris , The Observer (Books of the Year)A fabulously engrossing, exciting narrative in the grand old style ... overflowing with colour and character
—— Dominic SandbrookA brilliant book ... I couldn't get enough of it
—— Alex FergusonGoodwin's narrative abilities are on full display here. A portrait of Lincoln as a virtuosic politician and managerial genius
—— Michiko Kakutani , New York TimesIn Statesman of Europe T.G. Otte brings Grey to the fore, presenting his life as "a useful prism through which the disruptions that produced modern Britain are thrown into sharper relief." Along the way, he takes up questions of crisis management and great-power rivalry that are still pressing today ... Otte, a leading British historian of diplomacy, emphasizes the complexity of Grey's personality along with the complexity of the problems he tried to manage ... . Otte, a deft chronicler and shrewd analyst, makes a strong case for Edward Grey as a great statesman-not least in his pursuit of what we would today call multilateralism
—— William Anthony Hay , Wall Street JournalIn Statesman of Europe - the first full biography for half a century - T. G. Otte offers a sensitive and elegant portrait of our longest-serving foreign secretary (11 years on the trot): a politician whose principled pragmatism and sense of civic duty strike an appealing, if elegiac, note in 2020.
—— David Reynolds , New Statesman Books of the YearThomas Otte, in this compendious and elegant biography, paints a portrait of a deeply moral, patient and conscientious figure who did not love the world of high politics, but felt it his duty to pursue a role in public life and did so for 48 years. ... Otte's is a rich and rounded portrait of Grey, whom he restore[s] to his place as a humane and dutiful Liberal politician of the old school
—— Paul Lay , The TimesThis book is a reading for our times. It is a stalwart defence of politics as the careful, sensitive and pragmatic management of constant change, and of political history as an education in these truths ... it makes a significant mark.
—— Jonathan Parry , London Review of Booksan outstanding biography, beautifully written, richly documented and persuasively argued ... Otte has given us a superb biography of this important figure. Statesman of Europe is sub-titled A Life of Sir Edward Grey. For the foreseeable future it is likely to be the life of Sir Edward Grey.
—— David Dutton , Journal of Liberal HistoryOtte has already made a name for himself with a series of books and publications on British foreign policy, and this biography, Statesman of Europe (2020), can be regarded as the provisional crown on his work.
—— Beatrice de Graaf , NRC HandelsbladEdward Grey belonged to an era when British foreign policy carried global consequences. Most importantly, in July 1914 he led international efforts to forestall war. In T.G.Otte, Grey has found a historian whose fluency, scholarship and empathy match his subject's principled and pragmatic diplomacy. Otte unravels Grey's enigmas - his marriage, his preference for rural life over politics and above all his thinking on war and peace. In Statesman of Europe, now much the fullest and most authoritative account of Grey's life, he has brought to the man the poise and balance that Grey sought for his country.
—— Sir Hew StrachenTroubled times call for a historical perspective and this is the historical perspective we need
—— John Kay , author of Radical Uncertainty and former member of the Independent Commission on Banking of the UK Government, 2010-2011Demonstrates how that old saying - "this time is different" - is both so true and so wrong!
—— Lord Stephen Green , former CEO and Chairman of HSBC and UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment, 2011-2013Crashes are an integral part of the history of capitalism. The last century has seen plenty of them. All crashes begin with debt-fuelled euphoria and end in disappointment. Yet how bad that disappointment turns out to be also depends on where in the economy the crash falls and how determined and credible are the responses. In this lively and blessedly brief book, Linda Yueh does a lovely job of explaining the history and drawing the necessary lessons
—— Martin Wolf , Chief Economics Commentator, Financial TimesThis excellent overview identifies the ingredients that are specific to each crisis and common to all. She provides a lucid assessment of the efficacy of policy responses, high-lighting credibility as a necessary condition for successful resolution
—— Lord Nick McPherson, , former Permanent Secretary of the UK Treasury, 2005-2016, and Chairman of C. Hoare & Co."Why did nobody notice?" Was the question the Queen asked about the 2008 financial crisis. It was a good question. All financial crises and crashes have their own characteristics but they also often involve certain common features:- Irrational exuberance, Speculative frenzy, Greed and over confidence usually supported by high levels of gearing.
Linda Yueh's new book will be a timely reminder to governments and regulators of the warning signs of future crises
Timely, entertaining and full of useful insights
—— Gideon Rachman , Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, Financial TimesRenowned economist Dr Linda Yueh looks at past financial crashes - from the Wall Street Crash to the dot com boom and bust and the Covid pandemic - to explore what we can learn from them in this entertainingly written book.
—— i, Best New Books in MayEntertaining, well-written . . . [Yueh] has come up with a three-step framework to help spot when financial problems are brewing and identifies where the next may occur.
—— Ben Wright , TelegraphA gifted writer (een begenadigd schrijver)
—— De TelegraafThe book which impressed me most, and which I most enjoyed, this year is Andrew Roberts's George III. It is based on such astonishingly wide-ranging and original research that I felt I was reading about the period for the first time. Unknown facts and wonderful anecdotes had me turning the pages with a curiosity I seldom feel when reading about supposedly familiar events. Andrew Roberts is remarkably even-handed, and there is no special pleading on behalf of this genuinely misunderstood and wilfully misrepresented monarch who did his best to be a good constitutional ruler during a very choppy period in British history.
—— Adam Zamoyski , Aspects of History Books of the Yearmeticulously researched ... an eye-opening portrait of the man and his times
A deep, expansive study not only of George III but also of the political and social complexities of England and the United States during his reign.
—— Kathleen McCallister , Library Journala deeply textured portrait of George III [and] a capacious, prodigiously researched biography from a top-shelf historian.
—— Kirkusan outstanding and surprisingly moving portrait of a misunderstood king, distinguished by refreshing revisionism but also illuminated by deep humanity.
—— Simon Sebag Montefiore , Spectator World Books of the YearRoberts is in a rich vein of form at present; after bestselling books on Napoleon and Churchill, yet another masterpiece has tumbled from his pen.
—— Dan Jones , The Good Web GuideRoberts has been justly acclaimed as one of his generation's leading historians ... His new biography seeks to challenge popular myths about the monarch. ... Roberts, employing the same flair for original research and ability to convey historical context and vivid prose that he used in previous books ... thoroughly debunks all the assumptions most people have about the king.
—— Jonathan Tobin , Washington Examinerexhaustively researched and written in accessible, non-jargony prose. Meticulous and forensic, it sometimes reads like a defense counsel's case for his client ... Roberts's defense of George III, though, is the fullest, the clearest, and likely to be the most definitive.
—— Robert G. Ingram , National ReviewRoberts has painted a masterful portrait of a patriotic, diligent and cultivated monarch. ... This new biography is a treasure-house of detail. ... George III is an engaging, humane and at times beautiful testament to the importance of giving our ancestors a fair hearing.
—— Harrison Pitt , European Conservative