- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: Politico's Publishing Ltd; 1st Edition edition (8 Nov 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1842750631
- ISBN-13: 978-1842750636
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.6 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 119,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize-winning economist
A splendid book. A devastating critique of the welfare state. A page-turner, yet also extensively sourced. I congratulate Mr Bartholomew.
Synopsis
The founding of the welfare state in the 1940s was one of the crowning achievements of modern British history - or was it? In this work James Bartholomew advances the sacrilegious argument that however well-meaning its founders, the welfare state has in reality done more harm than good.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
92 of 112 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is not a dry sociological study. Page by compelling page Mr Bartholomew shows that the welfare state has been a disaster for Britain. The well-meaning welfare programmes of the government have impoverished, criminalized, demoralized and yes, even killed through neglect and incompetence those who are most vulnerable in our society. This book will help to shift the terms of the political debate. Anecdotes, illustrations and statistical evidence reinforce one another chapter after chapter and make for compulsive and fascinating reading. A striking aspect of this book is that the author shows that many of the issues were correctly diagnosed and addressed by the great nineteenth century social reformers, only to have their basic lessons disregarded or forgotten in the twentieth century. Truly those who are ignorant of history are condemned to repeat it. Importantly, Mr Bartholomew does not merely criticize the welfare state, he persuasively shows that Britain was once and could be again a dynamic compassionate and civil society sustained by and reinforcing a healthy morality in the private sector. The government is the problem, not the solution. The evidence is all here, clearly laid out. Press this book into the hands of every civil servant, teacher and doctor you know.
64 of 79 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A good analysis of the history of welfare in Britain and it's effects on society that isn't blinded by abstract socialist ideology and dogma, but rather takes a very pragmatic look at the successes and failures of welfare over the past few hundred years.
What makes this book particularly interesting is that the modern welfare state is put into historical perspective, as the author himself points out: few people today are familiar with what came before the post-WWII welfare state. Also good is the comparison of the performance of our modern welfare state with other European nations which have traditionally been considered more socialist than Britain, but which it turns out have far more mixed systems than pure state-run Britain.
This book might not be liked by those with grand ideological pretensions as the language is purely pragmatic rather than abstract.
What makes this book particularly interesting is that the modern welfare state is put into historical perspective, as the author himself points out: few people today are familiar with what came before the post-WWII welfare state. Also good is the comparison of the performance of our modern welfare state with other European nations which have traditionally been considered more socialist than Britain, but which it turns out have far more mixed systems than pure state-run Britain.
This book might not be liked by those with grand ideological pretensions as the language is purely pragmatic rather than abstract.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I think this book has been well reviewed from all angles. I'd just like to mention the first page, which almost stopped me reading. There we find Paul Dacre, editor of the 'Daily Mail', almost in tears because his journalists can't find a single piece of good news to cheer up their readers. This scenario struck me as so disingenuous that I almost threw down the book immediately. Surely the 'Daily Mail' has become the very successful paper it is today, precisely by pandering to its readers' deep sense of bitterness, resentment and righteous indignation? I'm no Guardianista, but the 'Mail' is - shall we say - not renowned for its objectivity. If Mr Dacre's team had fortuitously discovered some 'good news' (which other papers seem to happen upon, oddly enough), wouldn't his readers have felt betrayed? Plucky Little England, up against the lefties, gays, foreigners (etc). Isn't that exactly why they read the 'Mail'? I'm (honestly!) not knocking Conservative papers as such. The 'Telegraph' seems reliable enough, because it does separate news from opinion. This book was interesting and challenging, but that initial picture made me question everything that followed - but not in a good way.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Half of history- half true
Unbelievabaly polemic distortion of history to suit a neo-con/neo-lib ideology. This book blatantly chooses to veer round the absolute facts. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Timsread
Another 'have' gloating at the 'have nots'
This kind of neocon propaganda is not worth your time - look to market worshiping consumer capitalism for the real culprit in any decline of the UK citizenry.
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Published 6 months ago by Marcos
The welfare state we're in
Dire. It is badly written, badly researched, many of the graphs stop in the seventy's or eighty's and overall it is just an excuse to try and provide an ideological underpinning... Read more
Published 18 months ago by R. Wray
The Welfare State we are in
An excellent book of facts. Puts some reality into what has happened to this once great country, of which I am so proud to belong. Read more
Published 18 months ago by J. M. Howell
The Highway to Hell...
There's the old adage, 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions'. Mr Bartholomew's book tracks the route so far. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Paul Boswell
Brave
Far from being a childish or pompous political tract or apologetic for the rich, the book is well researched and dissolves assumptions that the welfare state is wholly positive. Read more
Published on 7 Dec 2009 by Butterfly A
A shocking indictment of the execution of a compassionate vision
For those of us unfamiliar with the history of social provision before the Welfare State, or the long catalogue of attempts to reform it, this is a valuable resource. Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2009 by Mr. S. J. Baker
cannot criticise this harshly enough....
Having seen how this book polarised opinion, and interested by its synopsis, I purchased this book. I would have given it zero stars if that was possible. Read more
Published on 30 July 2008 by J. Andrews
Wow!
I think this is literally the worst book i have ever read. This is no hyperbole; its poorly written (as if for a 6 year old with nice exciting pictures) and just unashamedly... Read more
Published on 21 April 2008 by J. R. Davies
Poor? Or just working the system?
The author has a central premise: the poor and the vulnerable have always been catered for, it's just that it never used to be the state, and by extension, the tax payer, who had... Read more
Published on 14 April 2008 by M. McManus
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