'POWERFUL' FINANCIAL TIMES, 2025 BOOK OF THE YEAR

'INNOVATIVE AND EXHILARATING' Angus Deaton, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics

Prosperity cannot be forced, it can only be freely chosen.

For centuries, powerful nations have claimed they were bringing progress to the world - through empire, intervention and control. From the conquest of the Americas to colonisation across Africa and Asia, expansion was justified by the wealth it generated. But rarely did it come with consent.

Spanning four hundred years, acclaimed economist and author of The White Man's Burden, William Easterly challenges the idea that development can ever be imposed from above. Eye-opening and urgent, Violent Saviours shows only commerce - not coercion - can overcome global poverty.

"A nicely contrarian work of interest to aid organizations and policymakers everywhere" - Kirkus