As globalisation wobbles into world crisis, a vividly written, brilliantly original history of world trade, the first for a generation: 'A Splendid Exchange is a splendid book.' New York Times

SHORTLISTED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES / GOLDMAN SACHS BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR

'A vividly written, brilliantly original history of trade, the first for a generation: A Splendid Exchange is a splendid book.' New York Times

Few historical enquiries can tell us as much about the world we live in as the story of the origins and development of world trade.

A Splendid Exchange tells the epic story of global commerce, from its prehistoric origins to the myriad controversies surrounding 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.

'Timely and readable... The strength of Mr Bernstein's book is the analytical rigour that overlays the rollicking history.' Economist

'Graceful and insightful... The chronological range of Bernstein's book is staggering.' Professor Paul Kennedy, Foreign Affairs

'A highly entertaining read' Hugh Carnegy, Financial 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.