An Economic History of Europe
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £6.75
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in An Economic History of Europe: Knowledge, Institutions and Growth, 600 to the Present (New Approaches to Economic and Social History) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £6.75, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Elegant, lean and beautifully written, An Economic History of Europe is clearly the best European economic history textbook on the market. The economic development ideas are modern and the evolution of the European economy exciting in Karl Gunnar Persson's masterful hands.' Jeffrey G. Williamson, Harvard University and University of Wisconsin, Madison
'How did Europe succeed in transforming itself from an under-populated backwater in c.800 to one of the most prosperous regions of the world? The author tackles this key question with a skilful combination of description of the main trends and simple but enlightening economic reasoning. This book will become the standard introduction to European economic history for both university students and the general public.' Giovanni Federico, European University Institute, Florence
'Persson has written a lively, intelligent, and concise European economic history. Students will appreciate the use of simple but effective economic reasoning and his talent for explaining complex issues in clear terms without over-simplification. I heartily recommend An Economic History of Europe to those teaching European economic history.' Timothy Guinnane, Yale University
'Karl Gunnar Persson's latest book is a first: an accessible and concise economic history of Europe since the Dark Ages by an eminent economist-cum-economic historian. Highlights include Persson's thirteen 'propositions' (or lessons from history), a narrative that is highly readable throughout, and a judicious and student-friendly blend of theory and history.' Cormac Ó Gráda, University College Dublin
'Anyone looking for a quick guide to the subject can profit by starting here. Equally, any teacher of the subject will want it on their reading list, and students have ready access to an admirable survey. It is highly recommended.' Forrest Capie, History
'How did Europe succeed in transforming itself from an under-populated backwater in c.800 to one of the most prosperous regions of the world? The author tackles this key question with a skilful combination of description of the main trends and simple but enlightening economic reasoning. This book will become the standard introduction to European economic history for both university students and the general public.' Giovanni Federico, European University Institute, Florence
'Persson has written a lively, intelligent, and concise European economic history. Students will appreciate the use of simple but effective economic reasoning and his talent for explaining complex issues in clear terms without over-simplification. I heartily recommend An Economic History of Europe to those teaching European economic history.' Timothy Guinnane, Yale University
'Karl Gunnar Persson's latest book is a first: an accessible and concise economic history of Europe since the Dark Ages by an eminent economist-cum-economic historian. Highlights include Persson's thirteen 'propositions' (or lessons from history), a narrative that is highly readable throughout, and a judicious and student-friendly blend of theory and history.' Cormac Ó Gráda, University College Dublin
'Anyone looking for a quick guide to the subject can profit by starting here. Equally, any teacher of the subject will want it on their reading list, and students have ready access to an admirable survey. It is highly recommended.' Forrest Capie, History
Product Description
This concise and accessible introduction to European economic history focusses on the interplay between the development of institutions and the generation and diffusion of knowledge-based technologies. The author challenges the view that European economic history before the Industrial Revolution was constrained by population growth outstripping available resources. He argues instead that the limiting factor was the knowledge needed for technological progress but also that Europe was unique in developing a scientific culture and institutions which were the basis for the unprecedented technological progress and economic growth of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Simple explanatory concepts are used to explain growth and stagnation as well as the convergence of income over time whilst text boxes, figures, an extensive glossary and online exercises enable students to develop a comprehensive understanding of the subject. This is the only textbook students will need to understand Europe's unique economic development and its global context.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
7 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Revisionist propaganda
13 Dec 2010
Format:Paperback
The author assumes that national innovation equals national success, thus explaining the pre-eminence achieved by innovative Europeans. His main approach focuses on the effects of technological advances on the relative prosperity of Europe's nation states over the last 1500 years.
From Germany to the United Kingdom many of those nation states are younger than those of the New World, so there's a flaw for a start. Indeed, what was a nation until recently? It's hard to define particularly when empires were involved, and that's relevant here because the author does much of his analysis with reference to the British economy. So what does he mean by Britain? Like most non Brits he probably means England and maybe the bits around it. But little England stayed little, which would explain his ludicrously low numbers for the size and growth rate of the "British" economy when imperial Britain was becoming enormous. It's like treating the economy of ancient Rome in terms of that of the city of Rome- a nonsense. Similarly, he constantly calls America, Australia, Canada and New Zealand European (as in continental European) offshoots. Tell that to the Queen of England who is still the Head of State for 3 of them. (He saves a worse insult for the Greeks and Italians by calling the Byzantine Empire non-European, which is a downright racialist slur.)
The contemporaneous economic impacts of empires and incessant wars are barely mentioned let alone studied, which is an astonishing omission that gives the book a suspiciously European Union propaganda tone. The emphasis on innovation being everything leads the author to conclude that Portugal, Spain and Britain declined through lack of it. No, they collapsed under the weight of the empires he ignores. For example, while its empire and therefore its economy was going through the floor Britain gave the World; antibiotics, stereophonic recording, polyethylene production, radar, television, synthetic lubricants, computers, jet engines, microwave generators, holograms, float glass, jet airliners, nuclear power stations, liquid crystal displays, microchips, mini cars, cash machines, body scanners, the world wide web...(about all of which the author seems ignorant). Only when it stopped innovating did the by then post imperial Britain prosper again, so disproving his theory.
The author is wrong, it wasn't pan-European innovation and meddling by politicians and economists that made Europeans globally pre-eminent, it was the empire building activities of the Portuguese, the Spanish, the Dutch and most of all the British. The rest were either bit-part players or irrelevant, it was Pax Britannica not Pax the European Union. That pre-eminence was destroyed by the Germans and their many collaborators in 2 World Wars, leaving Europe a backwater. Those are truths about the History of Europe, economic or otherwise, that some, particularly the federalists still cannot stomach hence revisionist works like this.
From Germany to the United Kingdom many of those nation states are younger than those of the New World, so there's a flaw for a start. Indeed, what was a nation until recently? It's hard to define particularly when empires were involved, and that's relevant here because the author does much of his analysis with reference to the British economy. So what does he mean by Britain? Like most non Brits he probably means England and maybe the bits around it. But little England stayed little, which would explain his ludicrously low numbers for the size and growth rate of the "British" economy when imperial Britain was becoming enormous. It's like treating the economy of ancient Rome in terms of that of the city of Rome- a nonsense. Similarly, he constantly calls America, Australia, Canada and New Zealand European (as in continental European) offshoots. Tell that to the Queen of England who is still the Head of State for 3 of them. (He saves a worse insult for the Greeks and Italians by calling the Byzantine Empire non-European, which is a downright racialist slur.)
The contemporaneous economic impacts of empires and incessant wars are barely mentioned let alone studied, which is an astonishing omission that gives the book a suspiciously European Union propaganda tone. The emphasis on innovation being everything leads the author to conclude that Portugal, Spain and Britain declined through lack of it. No, they collapsed under the weight of the empires he ignores. For example, while its empire and therefore its economy was going through the floor Britain gave the World; antibiotics, stereophonic recording, polyethylene production, radar, television, synthetic lubricants, computers, jet engines, microwave generators, holograms, float glass, jet airliners, nuclear power stations, liquid crystal displays, microchips, mini cars, cash machines, body scanners, the world wide web...(about all of which the author seems ignorant). Only when it stopped innovating did the by then post imperial Britain prosper again, so disproving his theory.
The author is wrong, it wasn't pan-European innovation and meddling by politicians and economists that made Europeans globally pre-eminent, it was the empire building activities of the Portuguese, the Spanish, the Dutch and most of all the British. The rest were either bit-part players or irrelevant, it was Pax Britannica not Pax the European Union. That pre-eminence was destroyed by the Germans and their many collaborators in 2 World Wars, leaving Europe a backwater. Those are truths about the History of Europe, economic or otherwise, that some, particularly the federalists still cannot stomach hence revisionist works like this.
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
