In Was the Good Samaritan a Bad Economist? Charles K. Wilber argues that the American economy has not only failed to overcome poverty, it has generated extreme inequality that in turn restricts social mobility and further marginalizes the poor. Wilber argues that economic theory is permeated with ethical values and any economics must be so; that human behavior is more complex than the economists’ simple self-interest model; that people are also driven by deeply embedded moral values; that markets require intervention to create equity; and that Catholic social thought provides the perspective and values to develop a more relevant social economics. The author takes that modified economics and uses it to analyze specific social problems: labor markets, poverty, inequality, financial crisis, and development. Wilber next focuses on the important role of families, labor unions, parishes, and small Christian communities, such as the Catholic Worker movement, as mediating institutions in the economy. He concludes with a final look at the questions, "Was the Good Samaritan a Bad Economist?".

"Barnaby Rudge: a portrait of London's descent into anarchy, where 'King Mob' rules the streets, and innocent lives are swept up in the chaos. Set against the backdrop of the Gordon Riots of 1780, Barnaby Rudge is a story of mystery and suspense which begins with an unsolved double murder and goes on to involve conspiracy, blackmail, abduction and retribution. Through the course of the novel fathers and sons become opposed, apprentices plot against their masters and Protestants clash with Catholics on the streets. And, as London erupts into riot, Barnaby Rudge himself struggles to escape the curse of his own past. Hard times: Coketown is dominated by the figure of Mr Thomas Gradgrind, school owner and model of Utilitarian success. Feeding both his pupils and his family with facts, he bans fancy and wonder from young minds. As a consequence his young daughter Louisa marries the loveless businessman and "bully of humility" Mr Bounderby, and his son Tom rebels to become embroiled in gambling and robbery. And, as their fortunes cross with those of free-spirited circus girl Sissy Jupe and victimized weaver Stephen Blackpool, Gradgrind is eventually forced to recognize the value of the human heart in an age of materialism and machinery"--Penguin Books.

Literature and Poverty offers an engaging overview of changes in literary perceptions of poverty and the poor. Part I of the book, from the Hebrew Bible to the French Revolution, provides essential background information. It introduces the Scriptural ideal of the ‘holy poor’ and the process by which biblical love of the poor came to be contested and undermined in European legislation and public opinion as capitalism grew and the state took over from the Church; Part II, from the French Revolution to World War II, shows how post-1789 problems of industrialization, population growth, war, and urbanization came to dominate much European literature, as poverty and the poor became central concerns of major writers such as Dickens, Dostoyevsky, and Hugo. David Aberbach uses literature – from the Bible, through Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Zola, Pushkin, and Orwell – to show how poverty changed from being an endemic and unavoidable fact of life, to a challenge for equality that might be attainable through a moral and rational society. As a literary and social history of poverty, this book argues for the vital importance of literature and the arts in understanding current problems in International Development.

“An excellent collection of critical and social commentary that will help to make Dickens’ image of Victorian England meaningful to all students.” —John Howard Wilson, Dakota Wesleyan University This Norton Critical Edition includes: - Sylvere Monod’s superbly edited text, based on the 1854 edition and accompanied by Fred Kaplan’s expanded annotations. - Fourteen illustrations from 1854 to circa 1890. - Contextual pieces by social critics and theorists of Dickens’ time that give readers outstanding examples of views on industrialism, education, and utilitarianism in the nineteenth century. - Eight new critical essays by Paulette Kidder, David M. Levy, Christopher Barnes, Theodore Dalrymple, Christina Lupton, Efraim Sicher, Nils Clausson, and Kent Greenfield and John E. Nilsson. - A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography.

Thomas Hardy made a reputation in more than one genre and in more than one period, and he has constantly given rise to widely differing critical responses. This study ranges in time from Hardy's response to Romanticism through to an examination of his diverse fortunes at the hands of critics from Hardy's own time to the present day. His achievement is examined through his various forms - his letters, autobiography, novels, poems and personal writings - and set in the context of the work of those whom he knew or admired. Timothy Hands surveys Hardy's ideas, his views on society and his remarkable knowledge of the contemporary arts. The book offers to specialist, student and general reader alike an authoritative yet readable guide through the biographical, literary and critical mazes surrounding Hardy's life and work.