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In this book, one of the worlds most renowned historians provides a concise and comprehensive history of capitalism in global perspective from its medieval origins to the 2008 financial crisis and beyond. From early commercial capitalism in the Arab world, China, and Europe, to nineteenth- and twentieth-century industrialization, to todays globalized financial capitalism, Jürgen Kocka offers an unmatched, balanced account of capitalism, one that weighs its huge achievements against its great costs, crises, and failures. Based on intensive research, the book puts the rise of capitalist economies in social, political, and cultural context, and shows how their current problems and foreseeable future are connected to a long history.
About the author
Jürgen Kocka is a permanent fellow at Humboldt University of Berlin and former president of the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. In 2011, he received the Holberg Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in the scholarly world.
Summary
"First published in Germany under 'Geschichte des Kapitalismus', by Jeurgen Kocka." --Title page verso.
Additional text
"[Kocka’s] new book offers an invaluable overview of debates about the definition and history of capitalism, with conclusions that are generally well documented, well grounded argumentatively, and in that sense convincing and authoritative."---Harold James, Journal of Modern History
