Author(s): Theodore Dalrymple
Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
Pages: 288
Binding: Paperback
In a word: magnificent. This book is about much more than the British welfare state and the underclass, though the author (a brave, rational psychiatrist) describes the individuals he meets with a clarity and intensity worthy of a novelist. The book is much more, as the subtitle states, about the worldview and psychological perspective which make the underclass and the welfare state possible (in the U.S. or abroad). It's truthful, honest and, in its own surprising way, poetic. Read this book even if you care nothing about politics, culture or society. Read it if you simply want to understand how NOT to treat human beings if you want them to survive, flourish and actualize their potentials.