The Crown of Wild Olive

The Crown of Wild Olive is a book written in a different style to Ruskin’s earlier, and better known, socio-economic writings, Unto This Last and Munera Pulveris. The latter were written as essays in the heavyweight journals of the day and they represented Ruskin’s attempt to challenge conventional political economy, and the business ethics derived from them, by subjecting the assumptions upon which they were based to close scrutiny. Despite the brilliance of Ruskin’s writing, to be fully appreciated both books, and more especially Munera Pulveris, need the same careful and attentive reading as any formal economics text.