The Aristocracy of Talent

How Meritocracy Made the Modern World

The Aristocracy of Talent
Adrian Wooldridge
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NZ$ 32.00
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Paperback
h198 x 129mm - 496pg
26 Jan 2023 UK
International import eta 7-19 days
9780141990378
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The surprising history of an inspiring and sometimes dangerous ideaMeritocracy- the idea that people should be advanced according to their talents rather than their status at birth. For much of history this was a revolutionary thought, but by the end of the twentieth century it had become the world' s ruling ideology. How did this happen, and why is meritocracy now under attack from both right and left? Adrian Wooldridge traces the history of meritocracy forged by the politicians and officials who introduced the revolutionary principle of open competition, the psychologists who devised methods for measuring natural mental abilities and the educationalists who built ladders of educational opportunity. He looks outside western cultures and shows what transformative effects it has had everywhere it has been adopted, especially once women were brought into the meritocractic system. Wooldridge also shows how meritocracy has now become corrupted and argues that the recent stalling of social mobility is the result of failure to complete the meritocratic revolution. Rather than abandoning meritocracy, he says, we should call for its renewal.
superb . . . Wooldridge, the political editor of The Economist, quite brilliantly evokes the values and manners of the pluto-meritocrats at the top of society . . . They would do well to read Wooldridge' s erudite, thoughtful and magnificently entertaining book. They will find many uncomfortable truths in it. -- James Marriott * The Times * The Aristocracy of Talent is finely constructed: fluent insights include the importance of Plato' s distrust of democracy, on the grounds that it tended to lead to tyranny, and his insistence on the need for a leadership of experts. -- John Lloyd * Financial Times * This masterly book offers a robust defence of meritocracy. -- Lord Willetts * Economist * hugely stimulating . . . a spirited defence . . . of meritocracy itself, made with cogent arguments . . . a valuable, thought-provoking book -- Noel Malcolm * Daily Telegraph * a timely book that is a reminder that meritocracy, for all its flaws, may well be, like the democracy it has sometimes served, better than the alternatives . . . told with a wealth of erudition in brisk and readable prose -- Darrin M McMahon * Literary Review * The Aristocracy of Talent is both an exhaustively researched history of an idea and a many-sided examination of the impacts of its imperfect execution. -- Mike Jakeman * Strategy + Business * There are few terms whose origins are more misunderstood than "meritocracy". So Adrian Wooldridge has performed a public service with his latest book, The Aristocracy of Talent. -- Dominic Lawson * Sunday Times * kudos to Adrian Wooldridge. . . for producing a full-throated defence of the principle -- Toby Young * Spectator * an omniscient and impassioned polemic . . . Some of us have been waiting a long time for someone to do what Wooldridge has done: nail the lie that there is something shameful about success honestly earned -- Daniel Johnson * The Critic *
Adrian Wooldridge is the Economist' s political editor and author of its Bagehot column. He has also worked as the Economist' s American bureau chief and author of the Lexington column, and management editor and author of the Schumpeter column. He earned a doctorate in history from Oxford University, where he was a Fellow of All Souls College. He is the author of ten previous books, including Capitalism in America co-written with Alan Greenspan and seven co-written with John Micklethwait- The Wake-Up Call, Th-e Witch Doctors, A Future Perfect, The Company, The Right Nation, God is Back and The Fourth Revolution.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9780141990378
Published: 26 Jan 2023
Published In: United Kingdom
Imprint: Penguin Books
Publisher: Penguin Books
Format: Paperback
Height: 198mm
Width: 129mm
Spine: 35mm
Weight: 500g
Pages: 496

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