Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor
Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor
Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor
Member Benefits
30% Off All Books - Savings that support storytellers, not stock prices.
Fight Book Bans - Every membership sends a book to LGBTQ+ youth in affected states.
Member Book Price
$25.00
$17.50
Couldn't load pickup availability
Description
Description
David S. Landes tells the long, fascinating story of wealth and power throughout the world: the creation of wealth, the paths of winners and losers, the rise and fall of nations. He studies history as a process, attempting to understand how the world's cultures lead to - or retard - economic and military success and material achievement. Countries of the West, Landes asserts, prospered early through the interplay of a vital, open society focused on work and knowledge, which led to increased productivity, the creation of new technologies, and the pursuit of change. Europe's key advantage lay in invention and know-how, as applied in war, transportation, generation of power, and skill in metalwork. Even such now banal inventions as eyeglasses and the clock were, in their day, powerful levers that tipped the balance of world economic power. Today's new economic winners are following much the same roads to power, while the laggards have somehow failed to duplicate this crucial formula for success. The key to relieving much of the world's poverty lies in understanding the lessons history has to teach us - lessons uniquely imparted in this towering work of history.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
Truly wonderful. No question that this will establish David Landes as preeminent in his field and in his time.--John Kenneth Galbraith
A masterly survey...with verve, broad vision, and a whole series of sharp opinions that he is not shy about stating plainly.--Robert Solow
A picture of enormous sweep and brilliant insight...embodied in a light and vigorous prose which carries the reader along irresistibly.--Kenneth Arrow
Powerful and lucid...There are few historians who would not be proud to be the author of this book.--Eric Hobsbawm "Los Angeles Times"
Mr. Landes writes with verve and gusto...This is indeed good history.--Douglass C. North "Wall Street Journal"
You cannot even begin to think about problems of economic development and convergence without knowing the story that Landes tells...I know of no better place to start thinking about the wealth and poverty of nations.--J. Bradford DeLong "Washington Post"
Enormously erudite and provocative...Never less than scintillating, witty, and brilliant.-- "Kirkus Reviews"
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
Pub date:
1999-05-17
Length:
688 pages
The Allstora Membership
Membership Perks:
- Save 30% on all online store purchases
- Exclusive access to author's content
- You pay less, but authors still earn double
Membership Terms:
First Month:
$0.00
Monthly price:
$5.00
- To access membership discount simply log in and add to cart, discount applied automatically.
- One month free trial, cancel anytime. Membership renews on the 15th of each month.