'This is a book that rewards the reader's effort, not least for the calm, practical wisdom that Sen brings to difficult subjects.
--The New York Times

'Development as Freedom is a personal manifest: a summing-up; a blend of vision, close argument, reflection and reminiscence.
--The Economist

'[Sen's] basic message-informed, insightful, compassionate, and optimistic-does shine through, a summary of the work still very much in progress of one of the most important thinkers of our time.'
-The Nation

"In this book, Sen develops, elegantly, compactly, and yet broadly the concept that economic development is in its nature an increase in freedom. By historical examples, empirical evidence, and forceful and rigorous analysis, he shows how development, broadly and properly conceived, cannot be antagonistic to liberty but consists precisely in its increase.
--Kenneth J. Arrow, Nobel Laureate in Economic Science,

'Sen proposes a theory of global economic development that is powerful, grand and eloquently simple at the same time... This is an exhilarating work by one of the great masters of the social sciences.
--Andreas Papandreou, Policy and Politics

'[Sen] provides a framework for thought rather than a formula for reform. He is quietly revolutionary in insisting that we keep our eye on the ultimate objectives rather than on the intervening instrumental variables.
- Richard N. Cooper, Foreign Affairs

'Economics meets philosophy in this wide-ranging manifesto that identifies freedom as the agent of universal development as well as its goal.'
-Kirkus Reviews