You're currently viewing:

Book reviews


Tickbox

Deborah Doane 2 June 2020

Reviewed by Deborah Doane, Partner at Rights CoLab. Something about the SDG targets doesn’t sit right with me, and now I know why thanks to David Boyle’s aptly named and compelling book, Tickbox, which unpacks …

Philanthropic Foundations In Canada: Landscapes, Indigenous Peoples and pathways to change

Alexandra Williamson 2 June 2020

Reviewed by Dr Alexandra Williamson, Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies, Queensland University of Technology. This edited volume of 13 chapters is divided into three parts. Part One explores the history of foundations in …

From Generosity to Justice: A new gospel of wealth

Tobias Jung 3 March 2020

Reviewed by Tobias Jung, director of the Centre for the Study of Philanthropy & Public Good, University of St Andrews Published on the centenary of Andrew Carnegie’s death, Walker’s book proposes ‘A new gospel of …

The rebellion of the everyday: Generous women who are changing Latin America*

Artemisa Castro Félix 3 March 2020

Reviewed by Artemisa Castro Félix, executive director, Fondo Acción Solidaria, AC (FASOL), Mexico It is impossible not to be moved by the work of the beautiful women portrayed in this book who, despite their differences, …

Making Aid Agencies Work – Terry Gibson

Mary Ann Clements 3 December 2019

Reviewed by Mary Ann Clements, Healing Solidarity Terry Gibson’s book outlines the major challenges that prevent INGOs from responding effectively to the experience and knowledge of people they claim to help. It’s an accessible read …

Giving Done Right: Effective philanthropy and making every dollar count – Phil Buchanan

Michael Alberg-Seberich 3 December 2019

Reviewed by Michael Alberg-Seberich, Wider Sense If you drew a map of philanthropy-land Giving Done Right would be the vast, fertile, middle ground situated between the mountains of Giving is like Business, the ocean of …

Mr Five Per Cent: The many lives of Calouste Gulbenkian, the world’s richest man

David Cutler 3 September 2019

Reviewed by David Cutler, Baring Foundation ‘Any man who dies rich, dies disgraced’ wrote Andrew Carnegie. So what are we to make of Calouste Gulbenkian who died in 1955 worth roughly £5 billion in today’s …

Under the Big Tree: Extraordinary stories from the movement to end neglected tropical diseases

Dr Daniel Cooper 3 September 2019

Reviewed by Dr Daniel Cooper, Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin, Australia Under the Big Tree combines medical science, deeply human stories and a call to arms. The term ‘neglected tropical diseases’ encompasses a broad …

The Tyranny of Metrics

Michael Alberg-Seberich 4 June 2019

Reviewed by Michael Alberg-Seberich, Wider Sense, Germany How many letters does the word philanthropy have? Twelve, exactly. How many vowels and consonants? Three and nine. What does that say about the actual impact of philanthropy? …

The Purpose of Capital: Elements of impact, financial flows, and natural being

Philo Alto 4 June 2019

Reviewed by Philo Alto, Asia Value Advisors Today’s global economic progress is increasingly being overshadowed by worsening inequality, socio-economic and ideological fractures, and the dangers of climate change. In response, there has been a growing …