The wealth and poverty of nations : why some are so rich and some so poor / David S. Landes.
By: Landes, David S
.
Material type: 
BookPublisher: London : Abacus, 1998Description: xxi, 650 p. : ill. ; 20 cm. + pbk.ISBN: 0349111669.Subject(s): Wealth -- Europe -- History | Poverty -- Europe -- History | Regional economic disparities -- History | Economic history | Economic development -- Social aspectsDDC classification: 330.16 | Item type | Current library | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Lending | MTU Bishopstown Library Lending | 330.16 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 00077735 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
The history of nations is a history of haves and have-nots, and as we approach the millennium, the gap between rich and poor countries is widening. In this engrossing and important new work, eminent historian David Landes explores the complex, fascinating and often startling causes of the wealth and poverty of nations. The answers are found not only in the large forces at work in economies: geography, religion, the broad swings of politics, but also in the small surprising details. In Europe, the invention of spectacles doubled the working life of skilled craftsmen, and played a prominent role in the creation of articulated machines, and in China, the failure to adopt the clock fundamentally hindered economic development.
The relief of poverty is vital to the survival of us all. As David Landes brilliantly shows, the key to future success lies in understanding the lessons the past has to teach us - lessons uniquely imparted in this groundbreaking and vital book which exemplifies narrative history at its best.
Bibliography: (pages 567-635) and index.
Nature's inequalities -- Answers to geography: Europe and China -- European exceptionalism: a different path -- The invention of invention -- The great opening -- Eastward Ho! -- From discoveries to empire -- Bittersweet Isles -- Empire in the east -- For love of gain -- Golconda -- Winners and losers: the balance sheet of empire -- The nature of industrial revolution -- Why Europe? Why then? -- Britain and the others -- Pursuit of Albion -- You need money to make money -- The wealth of knowledge -- Frontiers -- The South American way -- Celestial empire: Stasis and retreat -- Japan: And the last shall be first -- The Meiji restoration -- History gone wrong? -- Empire and after -- Loss of leadership -- Winners and ... -- Losers -- How did we get here? Where are we going?
Author notes provided by Syndetics
David S. Landes was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 29, 1924. He graduated from the City College of New York in 1942. He received a master's degree in history in 1943 and a Ph.D. in history in 1953 from Harvard University. During World War II, he was drafted into the Army and was assigned to the Signal Corps because he had been taking mail-order courses in cryptanalysis. He worked on deciphering Japanese messages about the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. He later worked on a history of German preparations for the invasion of Normandy.His dissertation, Bankers and Pashas: International Finance and Economic Imperialism in Egypt, became his first book. His other works included Revolution in Time: Clocks and the Making of the Modern World, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor, and Dynasties: Fortunes and Misfortunes of the World's Great Family Businesses. He taught at numerous universities during his lifetime including Columbia University, the University of California at Berkeley, and Harvard University, where he retired in 1996. He died on August 17, 2013 at the age of 89.
(Bowker Author Biography)