The Narcissism of Minor Differences

The Narcissism of Minor Differences by Peter Baldwin

There is much heated rhetoric about the widening gulf between Europe and America. According to the American right, Europeans are lazy, defeatist and irreligious, while Americans are entrepreneurial, optimistic, and pious. And according to Europeans, America is harsh, dominated by the market, crime-ridden, violent, and sharp-elbowed. But are the US and Europe so different? Peter Baldwin, one of the world's leading historians of comparative social policy, thinks not, and in this bracingly argued but remarkably informed polemic, he lays out how similar the two continents really are. Drawing on the latest evidence from sources such as the United Nations, the World Bank, IMF, and other international organizations, Baldwin offers a fascinating comparison of the United States and Europe, looking at the latest statistics on the economy, crime, health care, education and culture, religion, the environment, and much more. It is a book filled with surprising revelations. For most categories of crime, for instance, America is safe and peaceful by European standards. But the biggest surprise is that, though there are many differences between America and Europe, in almost all cases, these differences are no greater than the differences among European nations. Europe and the US are, in fact, part of a common, big-tent grouping. America is not Sweden, for sure. But nor is Italy Sweden, nor France, nor even Germany. And who says that Sweden is Europe? Anymore than Vermont is America? Writing with flair and armed with an impressive stock of evidence, Baldwin paints a truly eye-opening portrait of Europe and America. Anyone interested in American foreign relations--or simply curious about American and European society--will want to read this revelatory volume.

Provocative book* David Haworth, European Voice *
Meticulous, insistent and elegant book. * John Lloyd, Financial Times *
Overall the book is erudite, cogently argued and remarkably readable. * Peter Heogegan, Sunday Business Post *

Peter Baldwin is Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Disease and Democracy: The Industrialized World Faces AIDS, Contagion and the State in Europe, 1830-1930, and The Politics of Social Solidarity: Class Bases of the European Welfare State, 1875-1975.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780195391206
ISBN 10	0195391209
Title	The Narcissism of Minor Differences
Author	Peter Baldwin
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Oxford University Press Inc
Year published	2010-01-28
Number of pages	336
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.