About the Book
'This is the definitive book on philanthropy – its history, contradictions and future' – John Gray, Emeritus Professor of European Thought, London School of Economics
'Good books lay out the lie of the land. Important books change it. This book is both' – Giles Fraser, priest, journalist and broadcaster
The super-rich are silently and secretly shaping our world. In this groundbreaking exploration of historical and contemporary philanthropy, bestselling author Paul Vallely reveals how this far-reaching change came about.
Vivid with anecdote and scholarly insight, this magisterial survey – from the ancient Greeks to today's high-tech geeks – provides an original take on the history of philanthropy. It shows how giving has, variously, been a matter of honour, altruism, religious injunction, political control, moral activism, enlightened self-interest, public good, personal fulfilment and plutocratic manipulation.
Its narrative moves from the Greek man of honour and Roman patron, via the Jewish prophet and Christian scholastic – through the Elizabethan machiavel, Puritan proto-capitalist, Enlightenment activist and Victorian moralist – to the robber-baron philanthropist, the welfare socialist, the celebrity activist and today's wealthy mega-giver. In the process it discovers that philanthropy lost an essential element as it entered the modern era. The book then embarks on a journey to determine where today's philanthropists come closest to recovering that missing dimension.
Philanthropy explores the successes and failures of philanthrocapitalism, examines its claims and contradictions, and asks tough questions of top philanthropists and leading thinkers – among them Richard Branson, Eliza Manningham-Buller, Jonathan Ruffer, David Sainsbury, John Studzinski, Bob Geldof, Naser Haghamed, Lenny Henry, Jonathan Sacks, Rowan Williams, Ngaire Woods, and the presidents of the Rockefeller and Soros foundations, Rajiv Shah and Patrick Gaspard. In extended conversations they explore the relationship between philanthropy and family, faith, society, art, politics, and the creation and distribution of wealth.
Highly engaging and meticulously researched, Paul Vallely's authoritative account of philanthropy then and now critiques the excessive utilitarianism of much modern philanthrocapitalism and points to how philanthropy can rediscover its soul.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
1 Two Visions of Philanthropy
2 The Foundations of Western Philanthropy
3 Medieval Charity
4 How the Black Death Changed Everything
5 The Great Myth of the Reformation
6 The Business of the State
7 The Philanthropist as Activist
8 Victorian Virtues and Vices
9 Survival of the Fattest
10 Cradle to Grave - Philanthropy and the Welfare State
11 The Staggering Success of Philanthrocaptialism
12 The Serious Shortcomings of Philanthrocaptialism
13 Philanthropy Goes Global
14 Celebrity Philanthropy
15 Geeks Bearing Gifts - Philanthropy and Politics
16 Is Philanthropy Bad For Democracy?
17 Effective Altruism - What Could be Wrong with That?
18 How Philanthropy Can Recover Its Lost Soul
Epilogue: Philanthropy After the Pandemic
Notes
Further Reading
Picture Credits
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Author :
Paul Vallely is an internationally acclaimed commentator on politics, religion and society. His bestselling biography, Pope Francis – Untying the Knots, won worldwide critical praise.
After three decades writing award-winning journalism from 30 countries, Vallely co-wrote Bob Geldof's best-selling autobiography Is That It? and wrote the Penguin edition of Our Common Interest, the report of the Prime Minister's Commission for Africa. He is the editor of The New Politics – Catholic Social Teaching for the 21st century.
He is now Senior Research Fellow at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, and Visiting Professor in Public Ethics at the University of Chester. He has written on political, religious and ethical matters for the New York Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, Independent, Tablet and Church Times.
Review :
This is the definitive book on philanthropy – its history, contradictions and future … A deep and probing study of a highly complex practice that is an increasingly powerful force in our world.
A magisterial treatment of the history of Western philanthropy. Paul Vallely has produced the best single volume on the ideas that have shaped philanthropy, the institutional arrangements that have structured it, and the outsized personalities that have marked it… Stuffed with astonishing stories and illuminating interviews, this book will be a lasting resource for scholars, philanthropic and NGO leaders, and individual donors.
There are good books and there are important books. Good books lay out the lie of the land. Important books change it. This book is both. Beautifully written, passionately argued and crammed full of fascinating detail.
Paul Vallely has done all those involved in philanthropy a service with this comprehensive and panoramic overview of the field.
Deeply researched and wonderfully written, this book is much more than a sweeping, erudite history. It is a fascinating exploration of why people give – and a powerful call for philanthropy to do a better job of melding empathy with effectiveness.
Timely and fascinating
Philanthropy is as awesome in breadth as it is meticulous in detail … [the] text is helpfully broken up with interviews that provide a great deal of illumination about different approaches to giving.
This book deserves the widest possible readership. Paul Vallely has poured five years of research into a highly readable yet deeply serious exploration of the paths taken by the instinct and duty to give.
…a … highly readable survey by the British journalist Paul Vallely … helpful in framing the major questions about philanthropy.
