AUSTRIA AUTHOR · ECONOMICS · SOCIALISM
Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973) was the leading spokesman of the Austrian School of Economics throughout most of the twentieth century. He earned his doctorate in law and economics from the University of Vienna in 1906. In 1926, Mises founded the Austrian Institute for Business Cycle Research. From 1909 to 1934, he was an economist for the Vienna Chamber of Commerce. Before the Anschluss, in 1934 Mises left for Geneva, where he was a professor at the Graduate Institute of International Studies until 1940, when he emigrated to New York City. From 1948 to 1969, he was a visiting professor at New York University.
The modern State is the distinctive product of a unique civilization.
— from Liberalism
Most acclaimed
Memoirs
Pierre Trudeau was prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. This is his story, told in his own words. As if he were sitting across the table from you, Pierre Trudeau reminisces about his life in an informal, direct way. He starts with his memories of his family, especially his mother and father, to whom the book is dedicated. There are memorable events from childhood here, such as a visit to complain to the principal on his second day at school. Later there is a lunchroom encounter with a high school bully and then, at the age of fifteen, real tragedy. After an extensive education at the Universite de Montreal, Harvard, the London School of Economics, and the Ecole libre des sciences politiques in Paris (where postwar shortages meant that he had "to undergo an appendectomy in a hospital that was short of anaesthetics"), Trudeau set off with a backpack to travel around the world. He tells how he went through one war zone after another, encountering armed bandits and narrowly missing pirates, and being arrested in wartime Jordan as a Jewish spy (where a truckload of hostile Arab soldiers made it clear that "there was nothing to stop them from killing me and dumping my corpse into the ravine that bordered the highway"). These adventures and further travels through India and war-torn China left him with a deep belief in the rights of the individual and the vital role of government in protecting these rights. From the day he decided to go to Ottawa as a Liberal member of Parliament in 1965, Trudeau was clearly on a fast track. After becoming minister of justice in 1967 he ran for the leadership and became prime minister in 1968. He talks about his use of "the Liberal machine" and all the electoral fights that followed over the years, providing interesting insights into these contests. As a leader whose time in office ran from the fall of Charles de Gaulle to the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev, Pierre Trudeau was able to exert his influence to break down the Cold War mentality. He enjoyed good personal rapport with such different leaders as Chou Enlai, Gerald Ford, Fidel Castro, Jimmy Carter, Francois Mitterrand, and Helmut Schmidt. His relations with Richard Nixon and Margaret Thatcher were less warm, and he was less impressed by Ronald Reagan's intellect than by the wisdom of the Queen. Whether they loved him or hated him, Canadians knew that in Pierre Trudeau's time, the government stood up for Canada. He stood up to the domestic terrorism of the FLQ - and he makes no apologies here for his tough response to the October Crisis in 1970 - just as he stood up to the provincial premiers (including Rene Levesque) who he believed were blocking Canada's attempt to gain its own constitution ten years later. Although most of this book deals with the years between 1968 and 1984, Trudeau also talks about his life today. He brings you up to date on his travels with his sons ("the boys") and also deals with his opinions - at variance with those of Henry Kissinger - on trends in the modern world. A fascinating view from a major world statesman.
Liberalism
"Liberalism: The Genius of American Ideals traces Raskin's journey of the last fifty years through social and political action as well as thought. It is a book for people "in motion" who realize the importance of humane ideas in relation to action, aware not only that peace should be given a chance but that our best instincts must also be engaged through the reconstruction of our institutions."--Jacket.
Socialism
In this major new work, one of America's leading thinkers of the democratic Left argues convincingly that socialist renewal is the only hope for progress and freedom in the twenty-first century. A new civilization is already in the making, Harrington maintains, one of increasing automation and unprecedented international interdependence. Old frontiers are crumbling around the world as huge multinational companies, often in collaboration with their respective governments, already engage in global planning. The costs of this transformation are borne not only by the Third World but also by the new poor and precarious middle classes of the co-called advanced nations. Tracing two centuries of socialist history, Harrington shows that despite all its flaws and failures, the basic principles are sound. Because it places human values before doctrinaire political or blindly monetary considerations, it may also well be, Harrington says, our only hope for the future. - Jacket flap.