actual rating: 3.5. it was hard to choose the rating: it could be boring and repetitive, but only because Titmuss was being a proper academic by acknowledging the methodology, limitations, sample size, etc. of studies (i skimmed through so many) AND writing conclusion paragraphs like the chapters we ...more

A necessary read and I enjoyed this book, even if it was a bit dry at times. It mostly reads like an extended essay and the force of his moral arguments outweigh the several tables of quantitative data used to back up his arguments. This book was written before the contaminated blood scandal erupted ...more

Perhaps this book, which I think is a remarkable analysis of human altruism, is a little old fashioned in style. I may think this because it is quite a nostalgia-inducing book for me. It takes me back to university days when I was introduced to some interesting thinkers like Titmuss. I'd also highly ...more

REad for work. Great little book about the differences between volunteer donation systems and those designed by a for-profit, economic model. Mostly lays out the facts and numbers (published in 1971) relying heavily on detailed information from England and the US but also incorporating any relevant ...more