Public Good by Private Means: How philanthropy shapes Britain

Philanthropy is big news. In a world where philanthropists can build bigger profiles than presidents, an ever-increasing number have risen to greater fame giving away their money than merely making it. But using wealth to change the world is always controversial, and some have started to question the very notion of philanthropy.

In reality, none of this is new: philanthropy has been shaping the way we live for centuries. From religious almsgiving, through the golden age of Victorian philanth...