Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell

Maverick is a book about the life and ideas of Thomas Sowell, one of America's most important Black intellectuals. Sowell was a bright student with a tumultuous home life, but dropped out of high school and moved into a shelter. He later enrolled in night school at Howard University and transferred to Harvard, where he received his doctorate in economics. Sowell has written over thirty books and countless columns and media appearances, and his ideas have prompted both contempt and praise.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 15 July 2021
Publisher: Basic Books

Thomas Sowell, a renowned conservative intellectual, holds an almost godlike status amongst his peers. It is a scandal that economist Sowell has not received the prestigious Nobel Prize, as noted by a reviewer in Forbes. A profile in the Wall Street Journal hailed him as one of America's great sages. Sowell's writing on politics, economics, and social issues has elicited both contempt and praise. In his book "Maverick," Jason Riley delves into the life and ideas of Thomas Sowell, one of America's most significant Black intellectuals.

Sowell, a bright student with a tumultuous home life, was admitted to one of New York's most competitive high schools but dropped out at the age of 16. He left home a year later and sought refuge in a shelter for homeless boys in the Bronx, where he carried a knife for protection. Years later, the G.I. bill enabled him to enroll in night school at Howard University and later transferred to Harvard. By 1968, Sowell earned his doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago, with his dissertation written under the guidance of future Nobel economists Milton Friedman and George Stigler.

"Maverick" follows Sowell from his time at the University of Chicago to his early critiques of the Civil Rights movement. During the 1960s and 1970s, Sowell accepted teaching positions at Howard, Cornell, UCLA, and other institutions, but the campus unrest of the era clashed with his principles, and he refused to compromise. He shifted his focus to writing.

Over the past fifty years, Sowell has authored over thirty books, countless columns, and numerous media appearances. Riley provides an introduction to Sowell's ideas, ranging from race and inequality to economics and education. Riley explores how Sowell's personal history, alongside the significant moments and movements that shaped his thinking, offers a nuanced portrait of one of America's most influential thinkers.

Weight: 498g
Dimension: 162 x 246 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781541619685