I've been on the road and have only just caught up with these postings.  
Nevertheless, I offer the following.  
  
 If you are interested in understanding the *General Theory* might I suggest  
that you have a look at my own book on the subject, *Say's Law and the  
Keynesian Revolution* (Edward Elgar, 1998).  
  
 The book outlines the origins of the *General Theory *rather than just  
presenting a sequence of events culminating in Keynes's somewhat mysterious  
change of direction at the end of 1932, a change in direction which is  
usually left unexplained. As the book shows, the *General Theory *grew out  
of Keynes's coming across Malthus's economic writings in late 1932 and his  
taking from those writings the notions of aggregate demand and demand  
deficiency. Indeed, so far as I know, it is the only book that explains how  
and why Keynes made a refutation of Say's Law the essence of his argument.  
  
 A perhaps more straightforward although much briefer discussion of these  
issues may be found in an earlier article of mine, "The Malthusian Origins  
of the *General Theory,*" published in the *History of Economics Review *in  
1994.  
  
 Seeing the *General Theory* through its genealogy brings the underlying  
arguments to the surface. Since virtually no economist brought up on  
economics as taught today can be expected to understand the actual  
significance and meaning of Say's Law in classical economic theory, and can  
therefore be expected to understand just what was at stake, it has therefore  
become almost impossible to see the argument that Keynes was making and why  
his conclusions were as revolutionary as they were.  
  
Steve Kates