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Cheap edition, published at the start of the Second World War in 1940, in association with the original publisher with George Allen & Unwin Ltd. ***Very good in illustrated boards. Head and tail of spine worn with slight loss. Corners sharp. Boards clean and unmarked. Edges of boards slightly scuffed and worn. Pages clean. No foxing. Spine tight. No dustwrapper was issued for this edition as it was a cheap economy wartime production. ***190 mm x130 mm. 328 pages. ***Contents: I. The Impulse to Power, II. Leaders and Followers, III. The Forms of Power, IV. Priestly Power, V. Kingly Power, VI. Naked Power, VII. Revolutionary Power, VIII. Economic Power, IX. Power Over Opinion, X. Creeds as Sources of Power, XI. The Biology of Organizations, XII. Powers and Forms of Governments, XIII. Organizations and the Individual, XIV. Competition, XV. Power and Moral Codes, XVI. Power Philosophies, XVII. The Ethics of Power, XVIII. The Taming of Power, Index. ***'In this book I maintained that a sphere of freedom is still desirable even in a socialist state, but this sphere has to be defined afresh and not in liberal terms. This doctrine I still hold. The thesis of this book seems to me important, and I hoped that it would attract more attention than it has done. It was intended as a refutation both of Marx and of the classical economists, not on a point of detail, but on the fundamental assumptions that they shared. I argued that power, rather than wealth, should be the basic concept in social theory, and that social justice should consist in equalisation of power to the greatest practicable degree. It followed that State ownership of land and capital was no advance unless the State was democratic, and even then only if methods were devised for curbing the power of officials. A part of my thesis was taken up and popularised in "Burnham's Managerial Revolution", but otherwise the book fell rather flat. I still hold, however, that what it has to say is of very great importance if the evils of totalitarianism are to be avoided, particularly under a Socialist régime?' [Bertrand Russell, Autobiography] ***Originally published just prior to the Second World War, the book includes many references to Hitler, Mussolini etc. It ranges through the evolution of power, monarchy and theocracy, and examines the basis of power in individual psychology. ***A cheaply produced edition, published during wartime to war economy production standards, so a fragile book. Uncommon.
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