The Social Affairs Unit addresses social, economic and cultural issues with an emphasis on the value of personal responsibility. We research, challenge and debate issues from welfare to warfare, always seeking to draw out the role of the individual's obligations.

We identify research with a potential to inform public policy and translate it from academic discourse into public debate. The ideas we promote come largely from historians, sociologists and philosophers but also medical doctors and hard scientists.

Analysis, commentary and reviews by the Social Affairs Unit's authors are found on our constantly updated web review or, sorted by topic, at SAU Articles. This website also enables visitors to purchase our books and reports. A selection of these, along with our digital-only reports, are available to read online.

The Social Affairs Unit is the publisher of Standpoint, the monthly cultural and political news-stand magazine launched in June 2008.

Prison works - or rather it works better than the alternatives, argues Theodore Dalrymple Theodore Dalrymple

A Very Tory Coup: Richard D. North asks if the Conservatives have pulled off a post-modern coup Richard D. North

Brendan Simms asks, did Terence Rattigan try to suppress After the Dance because it was too revealing about his affair with Chips Channon? Terence Rattigan's After the Dance at the National Brendan Simms

If finished, Laura could have been one last triumph of resource from the most resourceful of writers who in his lifetime had been so often thrown back on his own resources, argues David Womersley: The Original of Laura - Vladimir Nabokov David Womersley

The Price of Wine - David Womersley bemoans the fact that first-growth clarets have become so expensive that they are no longer affordable to the merely well-off David Womersley

A play poised on the threshold of a new, Victorian, world: London Assurance - Dion Boucicault David Womersley

Bemoaning England (Again!) - Lincoln Allison argues that England will only start winning at football if we start fielding middle class players Lincoln Allison

Richard D. North asks, where is The Rational Optimist's back story: The Rational Optimist: How prosperity evolves - Matt Ridley Richard D. North

London 2012 and the Dirty bomb: some philosophical reflections Lincoln Allison

The Elgin Marbles are going to Dresden - Christie Davies can exclusively reveal Christie Davies

Private Views: Voices from the Frontline of British Culture
The Nation that Forgot God
In Search of the Moderate Muslim
War Since 1990
Don't Tread on Me: Anti-Americanism Abroad
What If? Counterfactualism and the Problem of History

Warning: Immigration Can Seriously Damage Your Wealth
Wealth And Poverty: A Jewish Analysis
How to Maximise Your Expenses: Advice to new Members of the European Parliament
Butler's Dilemma: Lord Butler's Inquiry and the Re-Assessment of Intelligence on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction
British Anti-Americanism
Mr Blair's Messiah Politics: A story of inspired government, 1997-2007