Adam Smith
Father of Economics

Quotes

"Very readable...[Norman] does a fine job of applying Smith's thinking to a number of such modern challenges. In all, he never loses sight of Smith's implicit injunction to think more broadly than just economics."—Forbes

"A wise book accessible to the general reader...You'll want to read Mr. Norman and then Smith if you have any thought at all of getting beyond the clichés of left and right...Engaging, intelligent, educational."—Wall Street Journal

"Remarkable and intensely readable.... Norman is a Conservative MP, and the very existence of the book, which draws on his background as a philosopher but also displays wide knowledge of economics and the history of the Enlightenment in 18th-century Edinburgh, is a rejoinder to those who fear that the intellectual has disappeared from politics, along with respect for facts and contact with reality."—Financial Times

"In this splendid book, Jesse Norman not only presents an excellent introduction to the life and ideas of Adam Smith, but also explains why - and how - Smith's insights can help us solve some of the most difficult social and economic problems of the contemporary world. Smith loved lucidity and relevance, and I think he would have been very happy with Norman's book."—Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate in Economics

"A worthy addition to the literature surrounding Smith and that of modern conservative thought."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Well-written, well-argued, and intensely thought-provoking.... I hope some of the author's parliamentary colleagues summon up the moral and intellectual strength to read it."—Simon Heffer, Spectator

"Norman has written a wonderfully clear account of the life and thought of Adam Smith."—Sunday Times

"I can't recommend this biography too highly."—Dan Hannan, Sunday Telegraph

"Norman's book...critiques what he calls 'crony capitalism'--a system he believes Adam Smith would have detested.... Accomplished and eloquent."—New Statesman

"It is a cause for rejoicing that we live in a country in which a front-line politician like Jesse Norman has the capacity and the energy to write an important work of revisionist biography with a direct and important impact on the intellectual underpinnings of liberal free-market thought. If we want to be well governed, we need to be governed by people who have the capacity not merely to act but also to think--and Jesse Norman, as this book amply demonstrates, is one of those people.... A wide-ranging, beautifully written book."—Oliver Letwin, Telegraph