Thomas Robert Malthus - Critical Responses (Hardcover)

Malthus's "Essay on the Principles of Population" was one of the most controversial books ever published. Going through six editions in the author's lifetime, it cast a long shadow down the 19th century, with nearly all of the century's leading thinkers from Hazlitt and Ricardo to Marx and Darwin feeling compelled to comment on it. This set draws together a range of responses to Malthus and his work from the 100 years following the first publication of the "Essay" in 1798. Although it gives a central place to his ideas on population, the pieces also explore Malthus's other contributions to political economy, especially those relating to the Poor Laws and the Corn Laws. The selections aim to demonstrate how wide ranging and varied the response to Malthus was and how powerful a hold his ideas exerted on both his supporters and his detractors. There are contributions from literary figures, scientists and economists, as well as responses from France, the United States and the United Kingdom.