Overview
There is much heated rhetoric about the widening gulf between Europe and America. But are the US and Europe so different? Peter Baldwin, one of the world's leading historians of comparative social policy, thinks not, and in this bracingly argued but remarkably informed polemic, he lays out how similar the two continents really are. Drawing on the latest evidence from sources such as the United Nations, the World Bank, IMF, and other international organizations, Baldwin offers a fascinating comparison of the United States and Europe, looking at the latest statistics on the economy, crime, health care, education and culture, religion, the environment, and much more. It is a book filled with surprising revelations. For most categories of crime, for instance, America is safe and peaceful by European standards. But the biggest surprise is that, though there are many differences between America and Europe, in almost all cases, these differences are no greater than the differences among European nations. Europe and the US are, in fact, part of a common, big-tent grouping. America is not Sweden, for sure. But nor is Italy Sweden, nor France, nor even Germany. And who says that Sweden is Europe? Anymore than Vermont is America?""Meticulous, insistent, and elegant."" --John Lloyd, Financial Times""A must-read...filled with intriguing facts that add nuance to what can often be a black-and-white debate.""--Foreign Affairs""An exhaustive and enthralling catalogue of our commonalities that begs a reconsideration of just what it means to be European or American.""--Publishers Weekly
Full Product Details
Author: Peter Baldwin (Professor of History, Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles)
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:
Width: 23.60cm
, Height: 2.50cm
, Length: 15.50cm
Weight: 0.612kg
ISBN: 9780195391206
ISBN 10: 0195391209
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 28 January 2010
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
General
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
Overall the book is erudite, cogently argued and remarkably readable. * Peter Heogegan, Sunday Business Post * Meticulous, insistent and elegant book. * John Lloyd, Financial Times * Provocative book. * David Haworth, European Voice *
Meticulous, insistent and elegant book. John Lloyd, Financial Times Overall the book is erudite, cogently argued and remarkably readable. Peter Heogegan, Sunday Business Post
Author Information
Peter Baldwin is Professor of History at the University of California-Los Angeles. He is the author of Disease and Democracy: The Industrialized World Faces AIDS, Contagion and the State in Europe, 1830-1930, and The Politics of Social Solidarity: Class Bases of the European Welfare State, 1875-1975.
