The Price of Peace cover art

The Price of Peace

Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

The Price of Peace

By: Zachary D. Carter
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £21.19

Buy Now for £21.19

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 20th Century Business Economic History Economics Modern Philosophers Professionals & Academics Capitalism Socialism Taxation Russia Gilded Age Soviet Union War Imperialism Banking Money Liberalism Latin American Economic Inequality Africa Historical Nonfiction
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c
All stars
Most relevant
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.

compelling writing, grand ideas for our times

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A must read for anyone interested in history, economics, and political philosophy. Riveting and well-written. Edifying, entertaining, and ultimately hopeful.

Incredible!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Shows how necessary it is for us to keep the Keynesian fire burning, “were the 7 wonders of the World built by thrift?”

Inspiration for our times

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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.

An intellectual tour de force

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Also well written and well read, pleasant and easy to follow, considering how complicated some of its discussion actually is.

What a great inspiration this book is

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews