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Title details for A Splendid Exchange by William J. Bernstein - Wait list

A Splendid Exchange

How Trade Shaped the World

by William J. Bernstein
Mel Foster
Audiobook
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Adam Smith wrote that man has an intrinsic "propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another." But 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 tells the extraordinary story of global commerce from its prehistoric origins to the myriad controversies surrounding it today. He transports readers from ancient sailing ships that brought the silk trade from China to Rome in the second century to the rise and fall of the Portuguese monopoly in spices in the sixteenth; from the rush for sugar that brought the British to Jamaica in 1655 to the American trade battles of the early twentieth century; from key innovations such as steam, steel, and refrigeration to the modern era of televisions from Taiwan, lettuce from Mexico, and T-shirts from China.


Along the way, Bernstein examines how our age-old dependency on trade has contributed to our planet's agricultural bounty, stimulated intellectual progress, and made us both prosperous and vulnerable. Although the impulse to trade often takes a backseat to xenophobia and war, Bernstein concludes that trade is ultimately a force for good among nations, and he argues that societies are far more successful and stable when they are involved in vigorous trade with their neighbors.


Lively, authoritative, and astonishing in scope, A Splendid Exchange is a riveting narrative that views trade and globalization not in political terms, but rather as an evolutionary process as old as war and religion—a historical constant—that will continue to foster the growth of intellectual capital, shrink the world, and propel the trajectory of the human species.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 25, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781400126699
      • File size: 496449 KB
      • Duration: 17:14:16

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Spanning thousands of years and civilizations, from the ancient Sumerians to modern society, A SPLENDID EXCHANGE is a rich economic history. Narrator Mel Foster's delivery is unflagging as the work introduces us to a truly global panoply of civilizations. Phoenicians, Mongols, Saracens, Italians, Portuguese, and the British--trading silk, coffee, spices, sugar, slaves, opium, and energy--are just a few of those who have contributed to today's interdependent global economy. The history is at its most exciting, and Foster's presentation is the most engaged, as he portrays the worlds of the great European discoverers Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, and Christopher Columbus. Foster keeps us listening, whether he's describing a seventh-century Syrian plague or the first transport of ice to Bombay. R.M. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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