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A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World

Posted By: robin-bobin
A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World

A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World by William J. Bernstein
Publisher: Tantor Media; Unabridged,MP3 - Unabridged CD edition (April 25, 2008) | ISBN: 1400156696
Language English | Audio CD in MP3/CBR 64 kbit/s 22050 Hz Joint Stereo | Total Duration: 17:11:05 | 519 MB

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 listeners 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 16th; from the rush for sugar that brought the British to Jamaica in 1655 to the American trade battles of the early 20th 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.


"[An] entertaining and greatly enlightening book . . . Bernstein is a fine writer and knows how to tell a great story well. . . . A Splendid Exchange is a splendid book." —The New York Times

“Superb . . . [A] significant contribution . . . The chronological range of Bernstein’s book is staggering. . . . A Splendid Exchange is a work of which Adam Smith and Max Weber would have approved…. What really marks Bernstein out is his talent in understanding, and then explaining, international commercial linkages.” —Paul Kennedy, Foreign Affairs

“Sparkling…Fascinating…One freewheeling historical passage follows another…A Splendid Exchange is saved from any possible tedium by its feast of contrarian conclusions, its broad historical sweep, and, especially, its vivid characters.” –Businessweek

“Highly entertaining…In an era when trade is defined by interminable World Trade Organization talks and offers nothing more romantic than slab-sided container ships ploughing between nondescript ports, William Bernstein’s book is like a trip to the movies to watch Johnny Depp swinging through the rigging.” –Hugh Carnegy, Financial Times

“Rollicking…Mr. Bernstein whisks his reader on a tumultuous journey….A Splendid Exchange is a timely and readable reminder that the desire to trade is not only one of the oldest human instincts but also the cause of many of the most important developments in our shared history….For anyone wanting a painless primer in the ideas of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, or more recent economists, such as Paul Samuelson, this is the place to find it.” –The Economist

–This text refers to the Paperback edition.


A sweeping narrative history of world trade–-from Sumer in 3000 BC to the firestorm over globalization today–-that brilliantly explores trade's colorful and contentious past and provides fresh insights into social, political, cultural, and economic history, as well as a timely assessment of trade's future.



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A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World



A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World




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