With world population today edging over seven billion, and with
projections for it to reach nine billion by mid-century, the ideas of
eighteenth-century English cleric Thomas Malthus-and his grim prediction
that war, plague, and famine are the inevitable response to
overpopulation--loom ever larger on the horizon. But if Malthus is a
familiar name to most educated people, few of us have read his famous
and controversial work, Essay on the Principle of Population, and
indeed few have but a sketchy notion of his ideas. In this Very Short
Introduction, Donald Winch explains and clarifies Malthus's thought,
assessing the profound influence he has had on modern economics.
Concentrating on his writings, Winch sheds light on the context in which
he wrote and why his work has remained controversial. Looking at
Malthus's early life as well as the evolution of his theories from
population to political economy, Winch considers why and how Malthus's
writings have been so influential in the
thought of later figures such as Charles Darwin and John Maynard Keynes.
About the Series:
Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original
introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology,
Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the
Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series
provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and
complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or
field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the
subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how
it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every
major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and
abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems
important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general
reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable
guide that will likely prove indispensable.
