Jesse Norman's important book about Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, is packed with insight, analysis, and perspective—as well as considerable color and drama. The complex nature of much of this material can make this book dense reading, but those who stick with it will find the effort rewarding. Norman, a conservative Member of Parliament in the U.K. and author of a praised biography of Edmund Burke, delivers a thoughtful and provocative account of Smith's life and ideas—and why those ideas still matter.
Norman traces Smith's life and intellectual development with literary flourish. Though Smith led a sedate life in academia, Norman enlivens these pages by placing him within his historical context. Smith would become an essential figure in the Scottish Enlightenment, which gave birth to Anglo-American positivism and formed the intellectual basis of our democratic institutions and traditions. We learn about his associations with Hume and Burke and the influence they had on him. Norman also discusses the political upheavals in Scotland and England, especially the Jacobite rebellions in favor of the deposed Stuart monarchs, and how they led Smith to appreciate the importance of political stability for economic productivity.
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