C. Saylor

In this 1912 classic, wide-ranging polemicist Hilaire Belloc presents a new economic history of Europe and makes his case for "Distributism", the author’s answer to the instability of capitalism and the stringency of socialism. Belloc outlines the major economic transitions through the history of the West, arguing that the civilization began as servile and dependent upon slavery and only emerged with the advent of the Christian faith. The Middle Ages are highlighted as the optimal condition, marked by a fair distribution of property.

Dating to the ninth century BC, Homer’s timeless poem still vividly conveys the horror and heroism of men and gods wrestling with towering emotions and battling amidst devastation and destruction, as it moves inexorably to the wrenching, tragic conclusion of the Trojan War. Renowned classicist Bernard Knox observes in his superb Introduction that although the violence of the Iliad is grim and relentless, it coexists with both images of civilized life and a poignant yearning for peace.