A Splendid Exchange
How Trade Shaped the World
William J. Bernstein
- A
- Financial
- Times
- and
- Economist
- Best
- Book
- of
- the
- Year
- exploring
- world
- trade
- from
- Mesopotamia
- in
- 3,000
- BC
- to
- modern
- globalization.How
- did
- trade
- evolve
- to
- the
- point
- where
- we
- don’t
- think
- twice
- about
- biting
- into
- an
- apple
- from
- the
- other
- side
- of
- the
- world?In
- A
- Splendid
- Exchange,
- William
- J.
- Bernstein,
- bestselling
- author
- of
- The
- Birth
- of
- Plenty,
- traces
- the
- story
- of
- global
- commerce
- from
- its
- prehistoric
- origins
- to
- the
- myriad
- controversies
- surrounding
- it
- today.
- Journey
- from
- ancient
- sailing
- ships
- carrying
- silk
- from
- China
- to
- Rome
- in
- the
- second
- century
- to
- the
- rise
- and
- fall
- of
- the
- Portuguese
- monopoly
- on
- spices
- in
- the
- sixteenth;
- from
- the
- American
- trade
- battles
- of
- the
- early
- twentieth
- century
- to
- the
- modern
- era
- of
- televisions
- from
- Taiwan,
- lettuce
- from
- Mexico,
- and
- T-shirts
- from
- China.Bernstein
- conveys
- trade
- and
- globalization
- not
- in
- political
- terms,
- but
- rather
- as
- an
- ever-evolving
- historical
- constant,
- like
- war
- or
- religion,
- that
- will
- continue
- to
- foster
- the
- growth
- of
- intellectual
- capital,
- shrink
- the
- world,
- and
- propel
- the
- trajectory
- of
- the
- human
- species.“[An]
- entertaining
- and
- greatly
- enlightening
- book.”
- —The
- New
- York
- Times“A
- work
- of
- which
- Adam
- Smith
- and
- Max
- Weber
- would
- have
- approved.”
- —Foreign
- Affairs“[Weaves]
- skillfully
- between
- rollicking
- adventures
- and
- scholarship.”
- —Pietra
- Rivoli,
- author
- of
- The
- Travels
- of
- a
- T-Shirt
- in
- the
- Global Economy
pro-mbooks3 : libris
