Boring. The concept of the book is bad ass, and the author is a respectable figure (any public official willing to write a book on such a specific subject - as opposed to a general, dumbified account of his boring life - gains serious cool points), but the book just doesn't cut it. Sure, the author points out a number of *neat* observations within socialist and capitalist societies, but it is not until the last two chapters that he actually touches the core of the book's subject. The rest of the chapters are simple critics of highly centralized socialist systems.
Basically, Luard criticizes centralized socialism's inability to tend to the problems that socialists are worried about - inequality, injustice, class, etc. - and suggests a sort of "grass roots" socialism instead. In such a system, schools would be ran by communities, minority interest groups would receive state assistance, and so on. Luard's vision is great, but it's a shame that it took him the entire book to pamper the reader for such a concept.
If you can get a photocopy of the second to last chapter, or read it page-for-page in an online book-searching tool then go for it. Otherwise, save your money.
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