The Price of Peace
Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
The Price of Peace
Buy Now for £16.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Robert Petkoff
About this listen
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An “outstanding new intellectual biography of John Maynard Keynes [that moves] swiftly along currents of lucidity and wit” (The New York Times), illuminating the world of the influential economist and his transformative ideas
“A timely, lucid and compelling portrait of a man whose enduring relevance is always heightened when crisis strikes.”—The Wall Street Journal
WINNER: The Arthur Ross Book Award Gold Medal • The Hillman Prize for Book Journalism
FINALIST: The National Book Critics Circle Award • The Sabew Best in Business Book Award
NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times • The Economist • Bloomberg • Mother Jones
At the dawn of World War I, a young academic named John Maynard Keynes hastily folded his long legs into the sidecar of his brother-in-law’s motorcycle for an odd, frantic journey that would change the course of history. Swept away from his placid home at Cambridge University by the currents of the conflict, Keynes found himself thrust into the halls of European treasuries to arrange emergency loans and packed off to America to negotiate the terms of economic combat. The terror and anxiety unleashed by the war would transform him from a comfortable obscurity into the most influential and controversial intellectual of his day—a man whose ideas still retain the power to shock in our own time.
Keynes was not only an economist but the preeminent anti-authoritarian thinker of the twentieth century, one who devoted his life to the belief that art and ideas could conquer war and deprivation. As a moral philosopher, political theorist, and statesman, Keynes led an extraordinary life that took him from intimate turn-of-the-century parties in London’s riotous Bloomsbury art scene to the fevered negotiations in Paris that shaped the Treaty of Versailles, from stock market crashes on two continents to diplomatic breakthroughs in the mountains of New Hampshire to wartime ballet openings at London’s extravagant Covent Garden.
Along the way, Keynes reinvented Enlightenment liberalism to meet the harrowing crises of the twentieth century. In the United States, his ideas became the foundation of a burgeoning economics profession, but they also became a flash point in the broader political struggle of the Cold War, as Keynesian acolytes faced off against conservatives in an intellectual battle for the future of the country—and the world. Though many Keynesian ideas survived the struggle, much of the project to which he devoted his life was lost.
In this riveting biography, veteran journalist Zachary D. Carter unearths the lost legacy of one of history’s most fascinating minds. The Price of Peace revives a forgotten set of ideas about democracy, money, and the good life with transformative implications for today’s debates over inequality and the power politics that shape the global order.
LONGLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE
Listeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
“Zachary D. Carter has given us an important, resonant, and memorable portrait of one of the chief architects of the world we’ve known, and know still. As Richard Nixon observed, we’re all Keynesians now—even if we don’t realize it. Carter’s powerful book will surely fix that.”—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Hope of Glory
“A brilliantly wrought, beautifully written life of one of the most captivating intellects of the twentieth century.”—Liaquat Ahamed, author of Lords of Finance
“The Price of Peace is a towering achievement. Carter blends a nuanced and sophisticated financial history of the twentieth century with the intimate personal drama and political upheaval of an epic novel. . . . A masterful biography of a unique and complex social thinker.”—Stephanie Kelton, author of The Deficit Myth
What listeners say about The Price of Peace
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Peter
- 08-05-23
Excellent book
So much more than a biography of Keynes. It is a comprehensive history of Keynesian thinking up to the present day.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mlc
- 10-09-20
compelling writing, grand ideas for our times
excellent examination of Keynes's life and work, and the effect it had on (mainly) American politics in the century since.. as a vrit I would have liked more on the long shadow of Keynes on the UK political system, but still fascinating.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Fletcher Christian
- 07-07-20
Brilliant, excoriating, fascinating, devastating
Not just a brilliant biography but a fascinating, scything debunking of aristocratic classical economics and the charlatans who maintain deplorable levels of inequality behind a facade of bogus so called mathematical certainties. A wonderful evidence packed, historically compelling justification of Keynes’s enduring philosophical breakthroughs which are as relevant now as ever for policy makers committed to creating good lives for those outside the monstrously selfish 1 per cent
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jamie
- 26-03-24
An intellectual tour de force
This book is astonishing in its scope and accomplishment. It successfully manages to paint an intimate portrait of a renowned thinker, man, economist, lover, socialist, and diplomat while simultaneously articulating broad century-long ideological battles over the optimal path towards prosperity.
As someone not formally trained in economics or economic history, this book was invaluable in my understanding of the history of thought in this field. It also reinforces just how much modern political economy has constrained itself with Keyne's insights still strongly influencing a resurgent state-led economic recovery today.
While Keynes and his body of book is not infallible, and modern understandings of monetary operations have allowed his ideas to progress, this book is a fundamental worthwhile read for anyone serious about understanding 20th and 21st century economics.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- AWK
- 22-06-20
So very good on personalities and theory
good into to JMK's thought made even better ob how it was applied during his lifetime and after up to the present. By an admirer of Keynes who also writes of his faults and Bloomsbury friends.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Allie
- 24-01-23
Incredible!
A must read for anyone interested in history, economics, and political philosophy. Riveting and well-written. Edifying, entertaining, and ultimately hopeful.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lise
- 19-09-21
What a great inspiration this book is
Also well written and well read, pleasant and easy to follow, considering how complicated some of its discussion actually is.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 30-11-21
Brilliant
fantastic book with amazing details on the history of the economy. very relevant to today. definitely recommend
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!