Slouching Towards Utopia
An Economic History of the Twentieth Century

This book provides a comprehensive narrative of a “long twentieth century” (1870-2010) that further informed my thinking about this era. An outstanding work of narrative history should work like a strong magnet among iron filings, pulling diverse pieces (facts) into a coherent pattern without distor......more

The book is a good introduction to the economic and political history of the world and the period the author considers "the long twentieth century" (1870-2010) in particular. And nothing more. There is barely anything to be learned from it for people who already have a basic knowledge of history and......more

Unlike many who have reviewed this book so far, I'm not a long-time reader of Brad DeLong's blog and I'm not particularly familiar with his previous work, either academic or popular. Unfortunately, I didn't find his account of what he calls "the long 20th century" (the period from 1870 to 2010) to b......more

This book fell short of my expectations. For someone with a grasp of basic economic knowledge, "Slouching Towards Utopia" offered me no new fresh insights. Instead, I was distracted by the author's frequent and sometimes meandering digressions. While it may offer a foundational understanding of the......more

Imagine Sapiens, but about the last 150 years of economic history, and actually good – that's what DeLong has accomplished in this sweeping account of economic growth during the industrial and information revolutions, and the political changes that accompanied them. DeLong is an excellent, clear, and......more