History of the Global Wheat Trade - Actors and Dynamics (1840-1914)

During the second half of the nineteenth century, a new global market for wheat came to the fore. Ever since, scarce and perishable food has been transformed into a modern global commodity, millions of tons of which is sold, bought and transported across the oceans, providing the "daily bread" for a fast-growing world population.

List of contents

Introduction. Actors, places, and exchanges of the global wheat market 1. Grain merchants and famines in late Renaissance. Giovanni Maria Mersi, Tommaso Barana and the provisioning of Padua and Vicenza (1572-1616). 2. Grain Traders and the Wheat Trade in 16th and 17th century Genoa 3. Agriculture and the market: the producers' perspective (Italy, 18th cent.) 4. 5. The new "American Wheat System", Frank H. Peavey, and the "Great Western Game" 6. Finance and production in the Chicago wheat market, 1859-1914. 7. 8. Odessa and its wheat trade in the long 19th century, 1794-1905 9. Economic dynamics, organisational structures and cultural challenges (1816-1914) 10. Genoa in the global wheat trade 11. 12. Australia in the global wheat trade 13. 14. Bunge & Born. The rise of a global wheat trader, 1880-1914. 15. 16. A fringe market in a global context Index

About the author

Marco Bertilorenzi is Associate Professor in economic and business history at University of Padova, Italy. He was part of the Rita Levi-Montalcini excellence program of the Italian Ministry of Research and University. With Routledge, he has already published a research monograph titled The International Aluminium Cartel.
Carlo Fumian is Emeritus Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Padova, Italy. He recently published Pane quotidiano. L'invisibile mercato mondiale del grano tra XIX e XX secolo. He is the PI of the "Project of Excellence" (Cariparo Foundation, Italy), from which this book resulted.
Giovanni Gozzini is Full Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Siena, Department of Social, Political, and Cognitive Sciences. His last published volume is Ecologia del denaro. Finanza e società nel mondo contemporaneo (Laterza 2024).

Product details

• Authors: Marco Fumian Bertilorenzi
• Assisted by: Bertilorenzi Marco (Editor), Carlo Fumian (Editor), Giovanni Gozzini (Editor)
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 29.04.2025
• EAN: 9781032642291
• ISBN: 978-1-0-3264229-1
• No. of pages: 336
• Series: Routledge Explorations in Economic History
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Social sciences, law, business > Business > Business administration; History, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economic History, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, Economic history, International Economics, Management & management techniques, Early 20th century c 1900 to c 1950, Economics of industrial organisation, Management and management techniques, Agriculture & Related Industries, Agribusiness and primary industries, Economics of industrial organization, wheat trade;globalization;grain traders;commodity;merchants