Distributist Perspectives: Volume I [Paperback]

J. Forrest Sharpe (Editor), D. Liam O'Huallachain (Editor), Thomas Naylor (Preface), Fr. Lawrence Smith (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2004

The writings collected here are from a school of English thinkers in the 1930s and 1940s who were concerned about the desperate state of modern society. The writers include G. K. Chesterton, H. J. Massingham, Eric Gill, Hilaire Belloc, Herbert Shove, and Arthur Penty. They study various parts of the problem of capitalist society; the origins, benefits, and demerits of industrialism; the importance of art to society and its sufferance under capitalism; the size of commercial organization and its relevance to efficiency; the nature and purpose of work as a concept; and the crucial nature of understanding the present through real knowledge of the past.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Sharpe received his degree in English from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, with emphases in political thought and history. He has authored prefaces to new editions of works by Hilaire Belloc and G. K. Chesterton. D.L. O'Huallachain studied European history and philosophy at Leicester and Winchester in England. He has authored introductions for new editions of works by Hilaire Belloc, Arthur Penty, and G. K. Chesterton.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Ihs Press (February 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971828679
• ISBN-13: 978-0971828674
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,562,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Economics of Justice and Charity, July 7, 2008

By 

Michael Tozer (San Antonio, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Distributist Perspectives: Volume I (Paperback)

The subtitle of this wonderful little book is the perfect title for a review of it. For Distributism, or Distributivism, as it is also sometimes called, is truly the economics of justice and charity. It is an economic system which acknowledges and honors the very important truth that economics is truly a subset of ethics. Would that more of our politicians, and central bankers, who play such a terrible role in modern economics, appreciated this very important concept.

This excellent little book consists of a number of essays by Distributist apologists, like Hilaire Belloc and G.K. Chesterton. The quality of the writing varies, of course, somewhat. Nobody can touch Belloc's beautiful prose. And his essay in this series was the highlight, at least for me. But the entire collection is well worth the while. Read this imporant little book. And be richly blessed and well informed by the experience.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Introduction to Distributism, May 4, 2009

By 

Kevin M. Derby (Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Distributist Perspectives: Volume I (Paperback)

This slender book contains a number of excellent essays that offer an introduction to Distributism, a "third way" between socialism and capitalism economic theory embraced by a number of thinkers in the first half of the twentieth century. These intellectuals often drew from the Catholic tradition and argued that Distributism, which advocated a society of small property holders against a few wealthy capitalists owning everything on one hand and government controlling property on other, was perhaps the only way a moral and just society could be maintained in the modern world. Besides offering a pair of excellent introductions, this book also contains a series of wonderful biographical sketches on the essayists included in the collection. While some of the bigger names of Distributism (Belloc and G.K.Chesterton) are included, the book also contains some pieces by other figures who are in danger of being almost totally forgotten. "Distributist Perspectives" Volume 1 is a wonderful anthology of these thinkers and the editors, and IHS Press, should be commended for producing this important book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars for the Uninitiated, January 1, 2009

By 

Jason Carter "President of Aegis Strategies, ... (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Distributist Perspectives: Volume I (Paperback)

This book is a helpful collection of essays, especially for those uninitiated in the economic and political "system" known as Distributism. If that word is unfamiliar to you, treat my review as five stars, buy this book, and read it.

A somewhat better collection of essays can be found in Beyond Capitalism & Socialism: A New Statement of an Old Ideal, edited by Kirkpatrick Sale, a book which I did give five stars.

The essay by Belloc on Knowing the Past and the introductory essays on Reclaiming the Tradition and Averting Self-Destruction are alone worth the small price for this book and the few hours it will take to read it. I have some quibbles with some of the other essays included, but not so much that I wouldn't recommend this book to a fellow traveler in all things small and beautiful.