The Spirit Level - Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better

Allen Lane / Penguin Group, 2009. Faded dustjacket spine, minor signs of wear to top and bottom of dustjacket spine, otherwise good secondhand condition.

The remarkable data assembled in The Spirit Level reveals striking differences, not only among the nations of the first world but even within America?s fifty states. Almost every modern social problem?ill-health, violence, lack of community life, teen pregnancy, mental illness?is more likely to occur in a less-equal society. This is why America, by most measures the richest country on earth, has per capita shorter average lifespan, more cases of mental illness, more obesity, and more of its citizens in prison than any other developed nation.

Wilkinson and Pickett lay bare the contradiction between material success and social failure in today?s world, but they do not simply provide a diagnosis of our woes. They offer readers a way toward a new political outlook, shifting from self-interested consumerism to a friendlier, more sustainable society. The Spirit Level is pioneering in its research, powerful in its revelations, and inspiring in its conclusion: Armed with this new understanding of why communities prosper, we have the tools to revitalize our politics and help all our fellow citizens, from the bottom of the ladder to the top.