An absorbing biography ... meticulously researched... scholarly and intriguing

A biography that reads as thrillingly as a detective story, and is rich in details and authoritative in its analysis

Fascinating... A book based on gold-standard research, the kind of thing that puts most popular history writing to shame

Rarely have first-class scholarship and first-class storytelling been so effectively combined

An extremely engaging survey of the lifetimes and ideas of the great thinkers of economic history, woven together with fascinating and useful discussions of how their ideas still shape economic policy today. Yueh's book is reminiscent of Heilbroner's marvellous classic The Wordly Philosophers, but more focused on contemporary debates on inequality, trade and productivity. Although targeted at readers interested in economic issues, this book would also make an excellent supplementary reading for undergraduate courses in economics, politics and social studies.

Linda Yueh has had the brilliant idea of, not just describing the theories of each great thinker, but linking each one to a particular problem of today ... I am sure Linda Yueh's original approach will deepen students' understanding of the Great Economists.

What would the great economists of the past make of today's problems? Linda Yueh takes on this ambitious task in this engaging book, introducing us to the work of each economist and conjecturing how they might have advised us. This book is a very readable introduction to the lives and thinking of the greats, and reminds us that policymakers continue to be, as Keynes wrote, "slaves of some defunct economist".

To anyone with even a passing interest in the economic problems, large and small, affecting us today, What Would the Great Economists Do? comes at the right time: a highly accessible and acute guide to thinking and learning from the men and woman whose work can inform and ultimately aid us in understanding the great national and global crises we face.

This well-written book provides more than an engaging discussion of how the "Great Economists" changed the course of economic thinking and history. It links their insights to current economic challenges, assessing how their unique contributions can improve future wellbeing. It concludes by artfully bringing together the economists' individual insights to shed light on the backlash against globalization. Read it not only to learn about the world's great economists, but also to see how consequential thought innovations can be, and have been.

Is economics a science in which each new generation's discoveries build on those of the old? Or a humanistic study in which old ideas remain valid and relevant today? Linda Yueh's account of the thinking of the great economists demonstrates that both perspectives are true.

A highly informative and entertaining introduction to the ideas of some of the great economists.

You can see her journalistic training in the way she makes connections between the lives, characters and thinking of her subjects

Crisp pen portraits and introductions to complex ideas have been melded with an assessment of what a particular dead economist might have advised about a contemporary issue ... The portraits are entertainingly crafted and the details of family lives well deployed.

Would [Adam] Smith's view have changed in modern times? Probably yes. Linda Yueh in her brilliant new book, "The Great Economists: How Their Ideas Can Help Us Today", argues that due to rapid technological advancements since Smith's time, the tune of the musician, which he regarded as ephemeral, now holds tangible value. Also, since Smith believed in the power of the invisible hand of the markets, he would have derided any move towards introducing market distortions like the Trump tariffs to promote manufacturing.

I certainly wish that [The Great Economists] had been around when I started to study the subject.

The style is engaging and takes the readers through key elements of the economic challenges we currently face, with the support of data and international comparisons ... Readers will certainly enjoy learning about the economists, as many of them lived quite unconventional lives.

As a broad and accessible overview of the lives and ideas of prominent economic thinkers, Yueh's book is a useful addition to the field. Its strongest sections make important connections between historical figures and modern decision-makers, such as the chapter detailing former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke's interest in Irving Fisher's debt-deflation hypothesis.

Readable, informative, and thought-provoking, and deserves a place in all libraries

The book is lucidly written... It offers glimpses into the lives of these influential economists, often laced with interesting nuggets of information.

An accessible and lively evaluation of the global financial crisis . . . [Yueh] has a way of simplifying the arcane and ferreting out good news - of which we need a lot.

Awesome yet accessible...recommended!

Amazing new book . . . warmly recommend

Excellent . . . what makes this book special is that it is simple to read and understand . . . extremely engaging and serves a grand five-star buffet

Want to learn about great ideas in economics and the great economists without doing any algebra? Here is an engagingly written book for you by Linda Yueh. She is both a real economist and an experienced journalist, so she knows how and what to write

A great book and Linda Yueh is well worth listening to

Yueh's CV - Oxford economics fellow; former editor at Bloomberg TV; ex-advisor to the World Bank - could inspire an inferiority complex in almost anyone. Yet she has written a remarkably accessible primer that profiles 12 of history's greatest economists (from Adam Smith to Joan Robinson), and then asks what they can reveal about the world today. Perhaps its most important lesson is not to take financial advice from economists: many of Yueh's subjects lost fortunes

Sensational material brought expertly to life; but Miller’s real gift to the reader is her patient reconstruction of the “lost literary generation” 1820s and 1830s.

A riveting, tantalisingly ambiguous portrait of a poet whose confessional voice makes her only more intriguing to modern readers.

A fascinating...deeply intelligent, witty and often moving exploration of race in modern Britain

Afua Hirsch's first book, Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging, was published to wide acclaim at the start of 2018. She looks at the many, multi-faceted questions that surround identity - both on a personal and societal scale - to pen a thought-provoking read.

It is a life-shaping read.

Brit(ish) stands out from a crop of books on growing up mixed race in 70s Britain.

Brit(ish) is an essential read for all. Hirsch's exploration of her identity brings to light the difficulties of growing up as mixed-race and black in Britain. She also challenges the British perception of race, and how our inability to confront our past has profoundly affected our ability to coherently understand and discuss race in our present. Brit(ish) is a call to action, if we genuinely want to progress as a society, we must change our discussions and understanding of race.

A personal, political and challenging account of what it means to be British when you are racialised as Black. Hirsch is a brilliant and fearless intellect who deftly handles the complexity of the issues

A beautifully written, poignantly honest memoir while also scrutinising modern history and popular culture. The breadth of Hirsch's focus is impressive... Her insights are numerous and profound, big and small, woven into the details of a personal life we can all learn from.

A haunting investigation into family trauma and secrets from a forgotten England that turns out to lie closer to the surface than anyone suspected. Turning detective, she [Laura Cumming] interrogates old snapshots with the forensic skill of a professional art critic

On Chapel Sands starts by seeming to be about one kind of mystery but soon starts being about another, much more profound one… the subtlety and suspense of the narrative lies in the way Cumming allows details about their relationship to emerge slowly, like a photograph socking in developing fluid

With her critic’s eye, Cumming turns detective to investigate who took her mother and tell a pacy story about relationships, pride and the ramifications of what goes unsaid

In a year strong in ingenious memoir, Laura Cumming’s On Chapel Sands…stood out, not just for its great storytelling but for Cumming’s wonderful ability to bring to life a Lincolnshire coastal community…its moods, characters and toxic secret-harbouring machinery

This beautifully written memoir of family mystery proved one of the surprise hits of 2019

[A] twisting literary mystery that also serves as a deeply moving love letter

A complex story of family secrets, beautifully written, and illustrated

A beautiful, multi-layered story full of lost love, human motivation and tender secrets

[A] bewitching blend of history and mystery

A scrupulous work of storytelling, radiant with empathy and filial affection