Thank you for putting this material online. “Progress & Poverty” is one of the most important books ever written, and too few people know about it today. It was a bestseller in the twenty or thirty years after its publication, and Henry George’s ideas were widely discussed and understood throughout the English-speaking world.
I didn’t read P&P first. I started with a couple of speeches — “Thou Shalt Not Steal” and “The Crime of Poverty” got my attention. Both are available at schalkenbach.org and at wealthandwant.com And my first reading of the unabridged P&P, I’ll admit, was slow. A friend, though, characterized it as a page-turner, a mystery whose solution she anxiously sought.
Bob Drake’s updating into modern language came along in good time for me. It captures the tone and meaning, and yet spares the reader the lengthy sentences and multiple examples that appear in the original. Those who have read the unabridged will find it ringing in their ears. And if you’re curious about how the chapter structures relate, you might look for the cross-referenced table of contents at wealthandwant.com.
I commend P&P — in whatever edition you choose (the unabridged is on the schalkenbach.org website) — to your attention. As John Dewey put it, “I do not claim that George’s remedy is a panacea that will cure by itself all our ailments. But I do claim that we cannot get rid of our basic troubles without it.”
Thank you for putting this material online. “Progress & Poverty” is one of the most important books ever written, and too few people know about it today. It was a bestseller in the twenty or thirty years after its publication, and Henry George’s ideas were widely discussed and understood throughout the English-speaking world.
I didn’t read P&P first. I started with a couple of speeches — “Thou Shalt Not Steal” and “The Crime of Poverty” got my attention. Both are available at schalkenbach.org and at wealthandwant.com And my first reading of the unabridged P&P, I’ll admit, was slow. A friend, though, characterized it as a page-turner, a mystery whose solution she anxiously sought.
Bob Drake’s updating into modern language came along in good time for me. It captures the tone and meaning, and yet spares the reader the lengthy sentences and multiple examples that appear in the original. Those who have read the unabridged will find it ringing in their ears. And if you’re curious about how the chapter structures relate, you might look for the cross-referenced table of contents at wealthandwant.com.
I commend P&P — in whatever edition you choose (the unabridged is on the schalkenbach.org website) — to your attention. As John Dewey put it, “I do not claim that George’s remedy is a panacea that will cure by itself all our ailments. But I do claim that we cannot get rid of our basic troubles without it.”