X-Book

Violent Saviours

Click Buy to Log in and see personalised pricing.

Send as a gift Get in the xigxag app
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

'AN INNOVATIVE AND EXHILARATING READ' Angus Deaton, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics

Economic development is not really development without consent.

For centuries, the developed Western world has exploited the less-developed 'Rest' in the name of progress, conquering the Americas, driving the Atlantic slave trade, and colonizing Africa and Asia. Throughout, the West has justified this global conquest by the
alleged material gains it brought to the conquered. But they overlooked the demand for self-determination - and not just relief from poverty.

Renowned economist and author of The White Man's Burden William Easterly examines how the demand for agency has always been at the heart of debates on development. Spanning four centuries of global history, Easterly argues that commerce, rather than conquest, provide equal rights as well as prosperity. Tracing the economic ideas underpinning the long debate between conquest and commerce, Easterly shows how it is the surge in global trade that has given agency to billions of people for the first time.

Asserting a new and urgent perspective on global economics, Violent Saviours shows that the demands for consent, dignity and respect must be at the centre of the global fight against poverty.

Critics Review

Powerful
Financial Times, Books of the Year
Easterly's deep scholarship brings the story to life, celebrating the few who saw clearly, some familiar, many not. An innovative and exhilarating read
Angus Deaton, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
You must read Violent Saviours
Stephen Haber, Stanford University
Easterly has done it again, sharply revising what we thought we knew, but didn't. He shows us the startling unity among tyrannies we imagined were distinct. A triumph of liberal thought
Deirdre McCloskey, Cato Institute
Violent Saviors is Bill Easterly's masterpiece. It brilliantly weaves together the self-serving and arrogant histories of the conquests, enslavements and destructive 'assistance' the West has imposed on the Rest, showing the common patronizing thread that connects them and tracing all these hideous histories to the philosophies that justified them, which Easterly masterfully dissects
Charles Calomiris, Columbia Business School
A nicely contrarian work of interest to aid organizations and policymakers everywhere
Kirkus
Author William Easterly
Narrator Fred Sanders
Duration 11 hours and 44 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781399811255
Format Audiobook
Publisher John Murray Press
Genre Colonialism and imperialism, General and world history, Racism and racial discrimination
Availability AU, GB, IE

More from the same

Author

Narrator

About xigxag

xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK’s only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.

There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at £8.99. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from £3.99. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.

Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.

Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.