Product Description: Ranging from some of the most advanced economies in the world to others with only modest national income, and from well established democracies to countries with lengthy histories as dictatorships, Europe presents the social scientist with a laboratory of different social forms...read more

Capitalism is the only complex system known to us that can provide an efficient and innovative economy, but the financial crisis has brought out the pernicious side of capitalism and shown that it remains dependent on the state to rescue it from its own deficiencies. Can capitalism be reshaped so that it is fit for society, or must we acquiesce to the neoliberal view that society will be at its best when markets are given free rein in all areas of life? The aim of this book is to show that the acceptance of capitalism and the market does not require us to accept the full neoliberal agenda of unrestrained markets, insecurity in our working lives, and neglect of the environment and of public services. In particular, it should not mean supporting the growing dominance of public life by corporate wealth. The world’s most successful mature economies are those that fully embrace both the discipline of the market and the need for protection against its negative outcomes. Indeed, a continuing, unresolved clash between these two forces is itself a major source of vitality and innovation for economy and society. But maintenance of that tension depends on the enduring strength of trade unions and other critical groups in civil society - a strength that is threatened by neoliberalism’s increasingly intolerant onward march. Outlining the principles for a renewed and more assertive social democracy, this timely and important book shows that real possibilities exist to create a better world than that which is being offered by the wealthy elites who dominate our public and private lives.

Product Description: What separates the best chess players from the rest? What gives them the edge over their rivals? Chess legend Vladimir Kramnik believes it’s their fighting skills and the ability to continuously find ways to keep a game alive. Colin Crouch agrees, and is fascinated that the world’s strongest players seem almost unbeatable, even when games appear sharp and double-edged...read more

Product Description: Winner of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung prize The financial crisis seemed to present a fundamental challenge to neo-liberalism, the body of ideas that have constituted the political orthodoxy of most advanced economies in recent decades...read more

Product Description: Leading chess author Colin Crouch believes that the key to sustained chess improvement lies in the critical analysis and assessment of your own games. Each and every game you play provides a significant learning opportunity, and this opportunity should never be squandered...read more

Product Description: Leading chess author Colin Crouch selects and explains over 30 sensational games, all from the new millennium. By studying battles between the world's best players, Crouch examines in detail all the key areas of modern chess. Powerful attacking and resourceful defending, bloodthirsty tactical battles, profound positional mastery, deep opening preparation and superb endgame play are all in evidence here, while Crouch also explores the ever-increasing role of computers and the way human imagination can work in harness with them...read more

Product Description: Colin Crouch studies his favorite attacking players, and highlights all the important themes of one of the most crucial elements of the game.

Product Description: Many books discuss how to attack in chess, but resourceful defensive play is also a vital ingredient in competitive success. This is an area largely neglected in the literature of the game.This book fills the gap admirably. Following a survey of general defensive methods in chess, Dr Colin Crouch investigates the techniques of World Champions Emanuel Lasker and Tigran Petrosian, both highly effective defenders...read more

Product Description: Over the last decade the neo-institutionalist literature of comparative capitalism has developed into an influential body of work. In this book, Colin Crouch assesses this literature, and proposes a major re-orientation of the field...read more

Product Description: This is the first book to present a systematic analysis of the role of small manufacturing enterprises in the main European economies and to review different perspectives on industrial districts and clusters. Combining knowledge from case-study literature with original analyses of statistical data enables the authors to present full accounts of the role of these clusters in Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, showing the considerable diversity of forms they take...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: While the acquisition of skills has become a major public need, there is increasing dependence for their provision on individual firms. These firms can have no responsibility for general needs with government action being restricted to residual care for the unemployed rather than contributing at the leading edge of advanced skills policy...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Bringing together a distinguished group of scholars, this volume examines the complex and growing debate on citizenship. this volume brings analytical clarity to contemporary debates about citizenship. The contributors not only systematically address the ambiguities of citizenship but also confront the growing marketization of citizenship...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: A group of leading European scholars examines the likely impact of European Monetary Union on the political institutions of the region. This book moves the debate about the Euro forward beyond the economic and sovereignty questions that have so far dominated discussion. (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: What do European societies look like, at the end of a turbulent millennium which saw western Europe slowly rise to global domination, and then rapidly decline to its present position, prosperous but clearly behind the USA in world influence? This text makes a systematic and up-to-date comparison of virtually all west European countries across a wide range of social institutions...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)