Hayek

The definitive account of the distinguished economist's formative years.Few twentieth-century figures have been lionized and vilified in such equal measure as Friedrich Hayek-economist, social theorist, leader of the Austrian school of economics, and champion of classical liberalism. Hayek's erudite arguments in support of individualism and the market economy have attracted a devout following, including many at the levers of power in business and government. Critics, meanwhile, cast Hayek as the intellectual forefather of "e;neoliberalism"e; and of all the evils they associate with that pernicious doctrine. In Hayek: A Life, historians of economics Bruce Caldwell and Hansjrg Klausinger draw on never-before-seen archival and family material to produce an authoritative account of the influential economist's first five decades. This includes portrayals of his early career in Vienna; his relationships in London and Cambridge; his family disputes; and definitive accounts of the creation of The Road to Serfdom and of the founding meeting of the Mont Plerin Society. A landmark work of history and biography, Hayek: A Life is a major contribution both to our cultural accounting of a towering figure and to intellectual history itself.