Comments on: Eight books on development for the interested generalist

By: Rachel Strohm

Rachel Strohm — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:05:09 +0000

Hi Philip,

I’ve had that on my “to-read” list for ages! I think it needs to be bumped up a few notches. Thanks for the recommendation!

Rachel

By: Philip

Philip — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:56:25 +0000

I’m horrifically behind on this one, but I would really recommend ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’ by Jared Diamond. A lot of what he says is hypothesis unsupported by data analysis (though given the scope of the book, that’s forgivable), but in general it’s a thought-provoking read for the interested reader.

By: butterflyworks

butterflyworks — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:13:51 +0000

Hallo Rachel and others, thanks for your list, will check out ‘Understanding Poverty’
I would like to suggest, for another angle “Things fall Apart’ from Chinua Achebe, not only because it is written by a Nigerian but mainly because it gives you a feel of what an outside intervention can do with the cultural dynamics of a place, it’s set in Nigeria in 1958.

greetings
Emer Beamer

By: rachelstrohm

rachelstrohm — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:29:02 +0000

Hi Hern,

I can’t speak for all the commentators, but I didn’t include The End of Poverty because I didn’t recall it being nearly as insightful as the other books on this list. Descriptive, certainly, and I’m sure accurate, but I didn’t come away from it feeling that I had understood something fundamentally new about the structures and processes that perpetuate or alleviate global poverty. And that’s the feeling I had with the rest of these books.

Cheers,

Rachel

By: rachelstrohm

rachelstrohm — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:59:30 +0000

Ah, I have a copy of Van de Walle’s book sitting on my bookshelf now – will have to bump it up the queue of interesting development books to read next!

By: rachelstrohm

rachelstrohm — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:58:56 +0000

Excellent, thanks for the suggestions!

By: rachelstrohm

rachelstrohm — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:58:27 +0000

Thanks for commenting! I do agree with your take on The Bottom Billion – that was largely how I felt about it when I first read it, which is why it’s still on here.

By: rachelstrohm

rachelstrohm — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:21:10 +0000

Very good call!

By: Terry Schulz

Terry Schulz — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:40:54 +0000

The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto.

By: Quiet Griot

Quiet Griot — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:11:34 +0000

Great list! On the Bottom Billion, I think the criticisms can be a little overblown- for the “interested generalist” who is skeptical enough not to take everything Collier says at face value, it’s fantastic. If you aren’t sure how to wrap your head around the problem of why poor countries are poor, it’s great place to start, not least because it’s concise and readable.

Also Easterly’s White Mans’ Burden has to be on there. Whether one agrees with him or not, his perspective is very valuable- anyone who works in or thinks about development would benefit by regularly asking themselves, “Why would Easterly say this was stupid, and how would I respond?”