Publisher's Synopsis
This widely admired intellectual biography of Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950) follows his career from his immensely creative and productive youth in Austria-Hungary to the strange depressions that plagued him during his later years and to his intellectual triumph as one of the great economists of the twentieth century. Richard Swedberg skillfully blends narrative with a thoughtful and knowledgeable evaluation of Schumpeter's major contributions to economics, history, sociology, and political science. "Richard Swedberg's biography of Schumpeter thoughtfully uncovers different layers of the eminent economist's personality.... A lucid, readable study."-- The New York Times Book Review "There are comparatively few intellectual biographies of genuine sociological interest. Richard Swedberg's new study of the Austrian social economist Joseph Schumpeter stands among the very best.... Swedberg has done a magnificent job of bringing Schumpeter's achievement back to center stage."--Robert Holton, American Journal of Sociology "Swedberg has produced a unique and inspiring book which is a must for anyone interested in Schumpeter's personality as well as in his rich set of ideas."--Esben Sloth Andersen, Journal of Economic Literature Richard Swedberg, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Stockholm, is the coeditor, with Neil J. Smelser, of The Handbook of Economic Sociology (Princeton).