As globalisation wobbles into world crisis, a vividly written, brilliantly original history of world trade, the first for a generation is presented. '"A Splendid Exchange" is a splendid book' - "New York Times". "A Splendid Exchange" tells the epic story of global commerce, from its prehistoric origins to the myriad crises confronting it today. It travels from the sugar rush that brought the British to Jamaica in the seventeenth century to our current debates over globalization, from the silk route between China and Rome in the second century to the rise and fall of the Portuguese monopoly in spices in the sixteenth. Throughout, William Bernstein examines how our age-old dependency on trade has contributed to our planet's agricultural bounty, stimulated intellectual and industrial progress and made us both prosperous and vulnerable.
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"'A highly entertaining read. Bernstein's enthusiasm for his subject and impressive organisation of a wealth of material enable him to plot with pace and verve... man's trading history.' Hugh Carnegy, Financial Times 'Timely and readable... The strength of Mr Bernstein's book is the analytical rigour that overlays the rollicking history.' Economist 'Superb... The chronological range of Bernstein's book is staggering... Graceful and insightful history with a delicate display of scholarship that conceals a vast erudition.' Paul Kennedy, Foreign Affairs"
About the Author
William Bernstein is an American financial theorist and historian whose books include The Birth of Plenty, which was published in 2004 to critical acclaim. He lives in America.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Steve Keen
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
This is, quite simply, a superb book, combining the virtues of Findlay and O'Rourke's Power And Plenty (my top book of 2008) and Landes's Prometheus Unbound, and better in many ways than Ferguson's The Ascent Of Money and Maddison's Contours Of The World Economy, and unlike the latter manages to steer clear of significant errors (on p155 he puts Aceh in India, not Indonesia, and on p216 he manages to render "Cyprus" as "Cypress").
Its subject matter crisscrosses all of the aforementioned works, with some pretty well inevitable overlap, even down to a quote from Jan Pieterzoon Coen - "We cannot carry on trade without war, nor war with out trade" - also used by Findlay and O'Rourke. But whilst Bernstein cannot avoid the viability of the central thesis of Power And Plenty - that trade and might are irrevocably conjoined - the emphasis is less on the martial than on the ineluctable urge, in Bernstein's thesis, of human beings to treat with each other in the exchange of goods or their proxy, money.
Reaching back initially to the fourth millennium BCE, Bernstein's story strictly speaking begins around 2500 BCE with the first known use of silver as a means of exchange in Sumeria (see also Ferguson's book and Cynthia Stokes Brown's Big History) and traces the history of Trade thenceforward through numerous nations and empires.
En route he throws in some enlightening asides. He speculates that the tendency of the channel between the Great Bitter Lake and the Gulf of Suez to occasionally dry up was the origin of the story of the Israelites' escape across the Red Sea. He tells us that Aden's name derives from the Arabic for Eden. And he reveals that, like the Christians, the Muslims were not above adopting existing traditions, such as the hajj.... Read more ›
Its subject matter crisscrosses all of the aforementioned works, with some pretty well inevitable overlap, even down to a quote from Jan Pieterzoon Coen - "We cannot carry on trade without war, nor war with out trade" - also used by Findlay and O'Rourke. But whilst Bernstein cannot avoid the viability of the central thesis of Power And Plenty - that trade and might are irrevocably conjoined - the emphasis is less on the martial than on the ineluctable urge, in Bernstein's thesis, of human beings to treat with each other in the exchange of goods or their proxy, money.
Reaching back initially to the fourth millennium BCE, Bernstein's story strictly speaking begins around 2500 BCE with the first known use of silver as a means of exchange in Sumeria (see also Ferguson's book and Cynthia Stokes Brown's Big History) and traces the history of Trade thenceforward through numerous nations and empires.
En route he throws in some enlightening asides. He speculates that the tendency of the channel between the Great Bitter Lake and the Gulf of Suez to occasionally dry up was the origin of the story of the Israelites' escape across the Red Sea. He tells us that Aden's name derives from the Arabic for Eden. And he reveals that, like the Christians, the Muslims were not above adopting existing traditions, such as the hajj.... Read more ›
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Rolf Dobelli
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
The appeal of this comprehensive history of world trade is rooted in its valuable information, thoughtful insights and brilliant writing. But, you'll also be delighted with the fascinating, little-known details that financial theorist William J. Bernstein throws in along the way. For example, did you know that the Boston Tea Party, the legendary event that helped launch the American Revolution, was not a selfless act of patriotism, but a venal stunt by greedy smugglers and merchants that actually cost the colonists a lot of money? How about the fact that an Ethiopian herder may have discovered coffee in A.D. 700 when he noticed that his goats and camels bounced merrily around all night after chewing on the red berries of an unknown shrub? Or that the early Chinese sometimes adulterated their precious tea exports with sawdust? Bernstein fills his book with such beguiling minutiae, but primarily he presents a knowing, comprehensive, discerning report on world trade from its prehistoric beginnings to the present. getAbstract predicts that Bernstein's saga will engage you from the first page to the last, and from sea to shining sea.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent book that provides a grand sweep of history. It charts the development of trade, from the Sumerians in 3000 BC to the Battle of Seattle in 1999 AD. In a mere 380 pages, a romp through 5000 years of human history.
Much of the book was new to me. Prior to reading the book, I didn't know a great deal about the ancient global trading routes, the great seaways of the Indian Ocean, and just how much of the ancient world was influenced by long distance trade. I had more prior knowledge of recent trade history and I found the book to be a useful corrective to that particular imbalance.
The book has losts of interesting deatil on some very esoteric subjects. For example, I found the piece on the importance of the camel in founding ancient trade routes to be very interesting.
The book is well written, it has a nice pace, and the story flows frpom one chapter to another. The chapters can be a bit long at times, but that is more of a minor point. I would well recommend this book to others who want a good introduction to the subject of global trade.
Much of the book was new to me. Prior to reading the book, I didn't know a great deal about the ancient global trading routes, the great seaways of the Indian Ocean, and just how much of the ancient world was influenced by long distance trade. I had more prior knowledge of recent trade history and I found the book to be a useful corrective to that particular imbalance.
The book has losts of interesting deatil on some very esoteric subjects. For example, I found the piece on the importance of the camel in founding ancient trade routes to be very interesting.
The book is well written, it has a nice pace, and the story flows frpom one chapter to another. The chapters can be a bit long at times, but that is more of a minor point. I would well recommend this book to others who want a good introduction to the subject of global trade.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The best economics book I read last year:
What did I learn ?
- He takes a very long term (centuries) view: Something lacking in most media in today's age.
- In early history, the first economies were in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) and later Greek (cities, not the country) in the West - while throughout history China was a hugely important and developed economy and society. Britain was a complete backwater in economic terms until the 17th century - the main thing we had of use to others was tin (in Devon and Cornwall) - used (with copper) for making bronze.
- Arabs played a huge role in playing middle-men in trade exchanges (especially between Italian city-states such as Genoa and Venice) and the East (China).
- Indonesia's spice islands were a huge draw (for nutmeg) in early years of trade - it was only much much later that commodities such as cinnamon and then sugar and tea fuelled Empire building.
- A few key geographical points crop up again and again throughout history: the Malacca straits; the straits of Hormuz (entrance to Arabian gulf), Bab-el-Mandeb (entrance to Red Sea), straits of Gibraltar (entrance to Mediterranean) - no coincidence that early Brits knew the significance of these choke points with settlements/influence in Malaya/Singapore, Oman, Aden, and Gibraltar.
- Shipping remains by far the most cost/energy/fuel efficient mode of transport - has done throughout history, and always will be (basic physics). 150 years ago, it cost more to get things a few miles inland to the port of New York, than it cost to bring it from New York to Liverpool by boat. Being an island with navigable waterways (like the UK) was a great cost advantage. 80% of world's trade (by volume) still goes by sea.... Read more ›
What did I learn ?
- He takes a very long term (centuries) view: Something lacking in most media in today's age.
- In early history, the first economies were in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) and later Greek (cities, not the country) in the West - while throughout history China was a hugely important and developed economy and society. Britain was a complete backwater in economic terms until the 17th century - the main thing we had of use to others was tin (in Devon and Cornwall) - used (with copper) for making bronze.
- Arabs played a huge role in playing middle-men in trade exchanges (especially between Italian city-states such as Genoa and Venice) and the East (China).
- Indonesia's spice islands were a huge draw (for nutmeg) in early years of trade - it was only much much later that commodities such as cinnamon and then sugar and tea fuelled Empire building.
- A few key geographical points crop up again and again throughout history: the Malacca straits; the straits of Hormuz (entrance to Arabian gulf), Bab-el-Mandeb (entrance to Red Sea), straits of Gibraltar (entrance to Mediterranean) - no coincidence that early Brits knew the significance of these choke points with settlements/influence in Malaya/Singapore, Oman, Aden, and Gibraltar.
- Shipping remains by far the most cost/energy/fuel efficient mode of transport - has done throughout history, and always will be (basic physics). 150 years ago, it cost more to get things a few miles inland to the port of New York, than it cost to bring it from New York to Liverpool by boat. Being an island with navigable waterways (like the UK) was a great cost advantage. 80% of world's trade (by volume) still goes by sea.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic read, and very informative.
I have not been able to put this book down. The subject is well thought out, and the background information on the effects of religion, disease on world events adds a further... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Dusty
5.0 out of 5 stars
A splendid introduction to global trade
This is a wonderful book, easy to read and cleverly organised both thematically and historically.
Adam Smith was not the first to remark mankind's predilection for truck... Read more
Adam Smith was not the first to remark mankind's predilection for truck... Read more
Published 23 months ago by James-philip Harries
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating guide on how to trade through history times.
Fascinating book on the history of trade.
It starts from the first beginnings of what a challenge it was to trade. Read more
It starts from the first beginnings of what a challenge it was to trade. Read more
Published on 4 July 2010 by Fantasyreader
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rollicking history of trade and the challenges of globalisation
When an author sets out to write a history of trade and starts off in 3000 BC, with Sumerian farmers being attacked by raiders wearing helmets made from a material that the farmers... Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2009 by Jonathan Gifford
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable and interesting
A really enjoyable read, and not all history books can claim that. The author is like the best kind of television presenter; able to combine a deep knowledge of the subject, to... Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2009 by Andy K
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