Lionel Robbins' now famous lectures on the history of economic thought comprise one of the greatest accounts since World War II of the evolution of economic ideas. This volume represents the first time those lectures have been published. Lord Robbins (1898-1984) was a remarkably accomplished thinker, writer, and public figure. He made important contributions to economic theory, methodology, and policy analysis, directed the economic section of Winston Churchill's War Cabinet, and served as chairman of the ??i??Financial Times??i??. As a historian of economic ideas, he ranks with Joseph Schumpeter and Jacob Viner as one of the foremost scholars of the century. These lectures, delivered at the London School of Economics between 1979 and 1981 and tape-recorded by Robbins' grandson, display his mastery of the intellectual history of economics, his infectious enthusiasm for the subject, and his eloquence and incisive wit. They cover a broad chronological range, beginning with Plato, Aristotle, and Aquinas, focusing extensively on Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus and the classicals, and finishing with a discussion of moderns and marginalists from Marx to Alfred Marshall. Robbins takes a varied and inclusive approach to intellectual history. As he says in his first lecture: ??i??I shall go my own sweet way - sometimes talk about doctrine, sometimes talk about persons, sometimes talk about periods??i??i??'. The lectures are united by Robbins' conviction that it is impossible to understand adequately contemporary institutions and social sciences without understanding the ideas behind their development. Authoritative yet accessible, combining the immediacy of the spoken word with Robbins' exceptional talent for clear, well-organized exposition, this volume will be welcomed by anyone interested in the intellectual origins of the modern world.

萊昂內爾·羅賓斯(1896-1997),英國著名經濟學傢和經濟思想史傢.1929-1961年執教於英國倫敦經濟學院.在第二次世界大戰期間擔任英國戰時內閣經濟部主任,1961-1979年任金融時報社社長.羅賓斯還擔任過英國科學院.英國國傢美術館.皇傢經濟學會.皇傢歌劇院發錶一係列公職或榮譽職位.他的最著名的著作是1932年發錶的《論經濟科學的性質和意義》.羅賓斯在該書中提齣,經濟學應是關於個人在資源稀缺條件下進行閤理選擇的研究,這一觀點已被廣泛承認為西方經濟學的基本定義.羅賓斯在經濟思想史方麵的著名著作,除瞭本書以外,還有《英國古典政治經濟學經濟政策理論》(1952),《托倫斯和古典經濟學的演變》(1958),《經濟思想史中的經濟發展理論》(1968)等.此外,羅賓斯還發錶瞭許多關子現實經濟政策和高等教育問題的論著和研究報告。