Ill Fares The Land: A Treatise On Our Present Discontents

Abstract

With Ill Fares the Land, Tony Judt envisages a new politics for our troubled times. Something is profoundly wrong with the way we live today. For the last thirty years, from Reagan to Bush, from Thatcher to Brown, we have made a virtue out of the pursuit of material self-interest. We know what things cost but have no idea what they are worth. We no longer ask: is it good? Is it right? Will it help bring about a better society? Tony Judt, one of the world's leading historians and intellectuals, argues that we must look to our recent past and once again value equality over affluence. concentrated expression of a lifetime's concerns equips us with the tools to imagine a new form of governance and a better way of life. This marvellously written book...makes a passionate case for a return of real values to politics. (Chris Patten, Observer). brilliant political commentator...a fearless critic of narrow orthodoxies. (Guardian). One of the most remarkable books on politics to have appeared for a very long time. (John Gray, Literary Review). Elegant, courageous and deeply humane. (Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times). Tony Judt was the Erich Maria Remarque Professor in European Studies at New York University. In 2009 Judt was awarded a Special Orwell Prize for Lifetime Achievement for his contribution to British Political writing. Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 (2005) was a runner up for the 2006 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction and Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. Judt died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2010.

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