The politics of taxation can sometimes be gripping for a nation's citizens, but not often: the arguments tend to be too technical when they are true, and too obviously bogus when they are false, to sustain public interest for long. By extension, the politics of another country's tax system is unlikely to be of much interest to anyone with any sort of normal life. Listening to the ins and outs of other people's fiscal battles can be like listening to other people's dreams: interminable and almost completely unreal. Death by a Thousand Cuts is something different. It tells the story of the campaign to repeal the estate tax (what we would call inheritance tax) in the United States, which culminated in the inclusion of the measure in George Bush's massive tax-cutting legislation of 2001. Don't let that put you off. This is one of the most interesting books about politics, and power, and the way the world is going, that you are ever likely to read.

LRB 2 June 2005 | PDF Download