Milton Friedman changed the world. From free markets in China to the flat taxes of Eastern Europe, from the debate on drugs to monetary policy, Friedman’s skill for vivid argument and ideas led to robust and often successful challenges to a dizzying amount of received wisdom.

Relying on big-picture economic analysis and an insistent faith in human freedom, he took on the economic and political orthodoxies of his day – and if he didn’t always win, he never failed to change the terms of the debate.

Rarely an uncontroversial figure, with his disciples and detractors to this day, this book is neither a credulous nor a critical look at the Nobel laureate. A brand new guide, published in association with the IEA, it simply sets out to explain his economic and public policy thinking in a straightforward and accessible way for the general reader and student.

It is a must-read for anyone who wants to know more about the economist whose work changed everything.

Eamonn Butler is the Director and co-founder of the Adam Smith Institute.

2011, ISBN – 978 0857 1 90369, 153pp, Pbk