"This is the definitive book on philanthropy - its history, contradictions and future ... A deep and probing study of a highly complex practice that is an increasingly powerful force in our world." --John Gray, Emeritus Professor of European Thought, London School of Economics

"A magisterial treatment of the history of Western philanthropy. Paul Vallely has produced the best single volume on the ideas that have shaped philanthropy, the institutional arrangements that have structured it, and the outsized personalities that have marked it... Stuffed with astonishing stories and illuminating interviews, this book will be a lasting resource for scholars, philanthropic and NGO leaders, and individual donors." --Rob Reich, Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and author of Just Giving: Why Philanthropy is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better.

"There are good books and there are important books. Good books lay out the lie of the land. Important books change it. This book is both. Beautifully written, passionately argued and crammed full of fascinating detail." --Giles Fraser, priest, journalist and broadcaster

"Paul Vallely has done all those involved in philanthropy a service with this comprehensive and panoramic overview of the field." --Dr Beth Breeze, Director, Centre for Philanthropy, University of Kent

"Deeply researched and wonderfully written, this book is much more than a sweeping, erudite history. It is a fascinating exploration of why people give - and a powerful call for philanthropy to do a better job of melding empathy with effectiveness." --David Callahan, Founder & Editor of Inside Philanthropy, Author of The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age

"Timely and fascinating" --Peter Hennessy, Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History, Queen Mary, University of London

"Philanthropy is as awesome in breadth as it is meticulous in detail ... [the] text is helpfully broken up with interviews that provide a great deal of illumination about different approaches to giving." - Literary Review

"This book deserves the widest possible readership. Paul Vallely has poured five years of research into a highly readable yet deeply serious exploration of the paths taken by the instinct and duty to give." - The Tablet

"...a ... highly readable survey by the British journalist Paul Vallely ... helpful in framing the major questions about philanthropy." - The New Yorker