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Power and Profit: The Merchant in Medieval Europe

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Power and Profit: The Merchant in Medieval Europe (Hardcover)

by Peter Spufford (Author)

4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Product details

Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd (Oct 2002)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0500251185
ISBN-13: 978-0500251188
Product Dimensions: 26 x 18.9 x 3.8 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 660,418 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

'Thank you so much for the copy of Power and Profit, which I have greatly enjoyed. It has made me realize that, in fact, most of my commercial inspirations and bright ideas were merely following the paths set by our predecessors!' - Sir John Harvey Jones

Product Description

The years between 1200 and 1500 saw the economy of Europe transformed from being rural, feudal and localized to being urban, capitalist and expansionist. Professor Spufford, who has made a lifelong study of these changes, here brings together a vast amount of material from archives all over the world - letters, account books, legal documents, civil records - to build up a comprehensive general picture. He has also personally travelled many of the roads, rivers and mountain passes that were the arteries of medieval trade, bringing the whole subject to vivid life. The eight chapters of the book cover the financial revolutions of the 13th century that led to the rise of modern banking, borrowing and insurance; the market in luxuries and the role of the great courts; international fairs; trade routes and the hazards of transport; raw materials; manufactured goods; the wealth of cities and nations; and the balance of trade between countries.

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	97% buy the item featured on this page: Power and Profit: The Merchant in Medieval Europe 4.8 out of 5 stars (4)
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shortlisted for the British Academy Book Prize 2003, 12 Dec 2003

By	British Academy Book Prize Judges (London) - See all my reviews

Peter Spufford’s beautifully written, deeply researched and richly illustrated Power and Profit: The Merchant in Medieval Europe involves the reader in a series of vivid journeys which the author himself boldly made across Europe in the tracks of the travellers he describes, by road, by sea, through great cities, across bridges and over mountain passes. He draws an unfailingly entertaining picture of life in the 13th and 14th centuries, and gives an encyclopaedic account of their trading patterns. Covering topics from the way in which trade forced a drive towards literacy and numeracy, to the overruling of the Christian prohibition on slavery that allowed rich Florentines to buy slave girls as objects of conspicuous luxury, he is always surprising, enlightening and thought provoking. His book is a joy to read and destined to become a classic.

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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A grass-roots History of Medieval Europe, 25 Mar 2003

By	Diane Waring (Skipton, N Yorkshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This is an expensive looking book, printed on high quality paper with an amazing number of illustrations. Many of them are in colour and include reproductions of paintings, pictures, maps, statues, manuscripts, engravings and photographs.

I particularly enjoyed the chapters on the trade routes across the mountains which explained amongst other things why some routes fell out of favour, how bridges and road maintainance was financed or not. Also how trade changed the use of builings and why.

Some parts of the book can seem a bit like a long list of goods and places but on the whole I would recommend it to anyone interested in this period - it shows how ordinary people lived not just Kings and Princes.

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful and fascinating book - how the 'west' was made!, 30 Mar 2005

By	Timothy Hawthorn (Bristol, UK) - See all my reviews

This is a fascinating account of the creation of modern Western civilisation as we know it. Though not always the easiest read it is very well worth persevering. It has really made me want to get out and visit so many places I'd never have thought interesting, or even heard of. A great read and a wonderful companion when visiting Europe.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A new perspective
This is an interesting and rewarding book. I found it in an art museum bookshop, but it isn't primarily about art. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Charl Engela

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