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John Maynard Keynes
Book

John Maynard Keynes

1883 - 1946: Economist, Philosopher, Statesman

Robert Skidelsky
Penguin, 2005

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Comprehensive
  • Innovative
  • Engaging

Recommendation

This tome (including more than 100 pages of notes and indices) is an abridgment of author Robert Skidelsky’s original three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes. It is in all respects an extraordinary work. The author offers a portrait of Keynes not only as an economist but also as a philosopher and a statesman. He does not segregate these three dimensions, but rather shows how they interpenetrate and inform each other. He sets Keynes in the context of his time and circumstances. Skidelsky is unsparing in his treatment of the inconsistencies and contradictions in Keynes’ life and character, but he is fair and balanced; he avoids sensationalism even in the treatment of the sensational. getAbstract finds that this book merits multiple readings and should intrigue not only economists but also anyone interested in the ideas and events of the 20th century.

Take-Aways

  • John Maynard Keynes was born to privilege and wealth, and his work may be read as an attempt to restore some elements of the world as it existed before World War I.
  • Keynes did not set out to be an economist. In fact, he came rather late to the field.
  • Part of the Bloomsbury Circle’s aesthetic and intellectual avant-garde, he was a prominent homosexual, though he eventually wed Russian dancer Lydia Lopokova.

About the Author

Robert Skidelsky is the author of a critically acclaimed, three-volume biography of Keynes.

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