`This is an admirable book about an admirable human being.'
- Bruce Littleboy, Economic Analysis & Policy`This is an excellent book that is likely to challenge the reader's conception of Keynes's work.'
- Elke Muchlinski, European Journal of the History of Economic Thought
`. . . the book has appended a chronology of Keynes' life set alongside main historical events, and each interlude concludes with short encyclopedic entries on distinguished artistic and political contemporaries of Keynes. These reference materials and its sweeping subject matter make it a book of interest to advanced undergraduate and graduate students.'
- Tiago Mata, History of Economic Ideas
`A satisfying and highly readable book, especially for non-economists and non-British readers approaching Keynes from a wider perspective. . . Dostaler's book is also quite accessible and should be of interest to undergraduates as well as the more specialized reader. . . the interpretative exposition is meticulously researched, original and lucid.'
- M.G. Hayes, EH.Net
`Keynes and his Battles is beautifully, passionately written.'
- Geoff Dow, Journal of Australian Political Economy
`An extremely informed and readable account of Keynes's life and achievements, skillfully presented in their context. A teaching aid as well as a reference book, which manages to be both enjoyable and useful.'
- Cristina Marcuzzo, Università di Roma, "La Sapienza", Italy
`Keynes and his Battles is distinctive from other biographies because it seems written as a musical piece.'
- Tiago Mata, History of Economic Ideas
This fascinating book brings together and examines all aspects of the life and work of one of the most influential thinkers of the last century, John Maynard Keynes, whose theses are still hotly debated. It combines, in an accessible, unique and cohesive manner, analytical, biographical and contextual elements from a variety of perspectives.
Gilles Dostaler studies in detail the battles that Keynes led on various fronts - politics, philosophy, art, and of course economics - in the pursuit of a single and lifelong goal: to radically transform society to create a better world, a world pacified and freed from the neurotic pursuit of financial wealth and economic rentability, with art at its pinnacle. Containing detailed presentations of the Bloomsbury group and the political history of Great Britain, Keynes and his Battles is an essential reference to this most important of 20th century figures whose central message remains as topical today as it ever was. The study also contains a unique chronology of Keynes's life and historical events, portraits of Keynes by his friends and contemporaries, as well as a full bibliography of all his books, chapters contributed to books, journal articles and reviews.
Scholars, students and researchers of economics, history of economic thought, political science, sociology, history, philosophy and the history of arts will find this an absorbing and revealing work. The book should also interest journalists, decision makers in society and all those who are preoccupied by the problems of our time.