An Economic History of the World since 1400

A renowned economic historian reveals the (sometimes surprising) ways money has shaped global politics, innovation, and discovery.

• By This Professor
• 01: Self-Interest, Human Survival, and History
• 02: Marco Polo, China, and Silk Road Trade
• 03: Manorial Society in Medieval Europe
• 04: How Black Death Reshaped Town and Field
• 05: Late-14th-Century Guilds and Monopolies
• 06: European Discovery Routes: East and West
• 07: 1571: Spain, Portugal Encircle the Globe
• 08: Old World Bourses and Market Information
• 09: The Europeans' Plantation Labor Problem
• 10: Adam Smith, Mercantilism, State Building
• 11: British and Dutch Joint-Stock Companies
• 12: Europe, the Printing Press, and Science
• 13: The Industrious Revolution: Demand Grows
• 14: Why Didn't China Industrialize Earlier?
• 15: 18th-Century Agriculture and Production
• 16: Industrial Revolution: The Textile Trade
• 17: British Coal, Coke, and a New Age of Iron
• 18: Power: From Peat Bogs to Steam Engines
• 19: A Second Industrial Revolution after 1850
• 20: Family Labor Evolves into Factory Work
• 21: Cornelius Vanderbilt and the Modern Firm
• 22: 19th-Century Farm Technology, Land Reform
• 23: Speeding Up: Canals, Steamships, Railroads
• 24: European Urbanization and Emigration
• 25: Unions, Strikes, and the Haymarket Affair
• 26: Banks, Central Banks, and Modern States
• 27: Understanding Uneven Economic Development
• 28: Adam Smith's Argument for Free Trade
• 29: Middle-Class Catalogs and Mass Consumption
• 30: Imperialism: Land Grabs and Morality Plays
• 31: World War I: Industrial Powers Collide
• 32: Russia's Marxist-Leninist Experiment
• 33: The Trouble with the Gold Standard
• 34: Tariffs, Cartels, and John Maynard Keynes
• 35: Japanese Expansionism: Manchurian Incident
• 36: U.S. Aid and a Postwar Economic Miracle
• 37: Colonialism and the Independence Movement
• 38: Japan, the Transistor, and Asia's Tigers
• 39: The Welfare State: From Bismarck to Obama
• 40: The End of American Exceptionalism?
• 41: Middle East: From Pawn to Power Broker
• 42: Germany, the European Union, and the Euro
• 43: Free Trade: Global versus Regional Blocs
• 44: Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and the Soviet Decline
• 45: Half the World Left behind in Poverty
• 46: China, India: Two Paths to Wealth Extremes
• 47: The Information Economy: Telegraph to Tech
• 48: Leverage with Globalization in Its Grip