This new edition of The Life of Adam Smith remains the only book to give a full account of Smith's life whilst also placing his work into the context of his life and times. Updated to include new scholarship which has recently come to light, this full-scale biography of Adam Smith examines the personality, career, and social and intellectual circumstances of the Scottish moral philosopher regarded as the founder of scientific economics, whose legacy of thought - most notably about the free market and the role of the state - concerns us all. Ian Simpson Ross draws on correspondence, archival documents, the reports of contemporaries, and the record of Smith's publications to fashion a lively account of Adam Smith as a man of letters, moralist, historian, and critic, as well as an economist. Supported with full scholarly apparatus for students and academics, the book also offers 20 halftone illustrations representing Smith and the world in which he lived.

Features

• This remains the only full-scale biography of Adam Smith's life that also places his work in the context of his life and times
• Builds on the success of the first edition which sold over 9,000 copies
• Draws on correspondence, archival documents, the reports of contemporaries, and the record of Smith's publications
• Lively and informed account will appeal to those interested in the social and intellectual milieu of the eighteenth century, and in Scottish history
• Includes 20 halftone illustrations representing Smith and the world in which he lived