Author: Paul Kosmetatos
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319709089
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 351
Book Description
Nowadays remembered mostly through Adam Smith’s references to the short-lived Ayr Bank in the Wealth of Nations, the 1772-3 financial crisis was an important historical episode in its own right, taking place during a pivotal period in the development of financial capitalism and coinciding with the start of the traditional industrialisation narrative. It was also one of the earliest purely financial crises occurring in peacetime, and its progress showed an impressive geographical reach, involving England, Scotland, the Netherlands and the North American colonies. This book uses a variety of previously unpublished archival sources to question the bubble narrative usually associated with this crisis, and to identify the mechanisms of financial contagion that allowed the failure of a small private bank in London to cause rapid and severe distress throughout the 18th century financial system. It re-examines the short and turbulent career of the Ayr Bank, and concludes that its failure was the result of cavalier liability management akin to that of Northern Rock in 2007, rather than the poor asset quality alleged in existing literature. It furthermore argues that the Bank of England’s prompt efforts to contain the crisis are evidence of a Lender of Last Resort in action, some thirty years before the classical formulation of the concept by Henry Thornton.
The 1772–73 British Credit Crisis
Author: Paul Kosmetatos
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319709089
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 351
Book Description
Nowadays remembered mostly through Adam Smith’s references to the short-lived Ayr Bank in the Wealth of Nations, the 1772-3 financial crisis was an important historical episode in its own right, taking place during a pivotal period in the development of financial capitalism and coinciding with the start of the traditional industrialisation narrative. It was also one of the earliest purely financial crises occurring in peacetime, and its progress showed an impressive geographical reach, involving England, Scotland, the Netherlands and the North American colonies. This book uses a variety of previously unpublished archival sources to question the bubble narrative usually associated with this crisis, and to identify the mechanisms of financial contagion that allowed the failure of a small private bank in London to cause rapid and severe distress throughout the 18th century financial system. It re-examines the short and turbulent career of the Ayr Bank, and concludes that its failure was the result of cavalier liability management akin to that of Northern Rock in 2007, rather than the poor asset quality alleged in existing literature. It furthermore argues that the Bank of England’s prompt efforts to contain the crisis are evidence of a Lender of Last Resort in action, some thirty years before the classical formulation of the concept by Henry Thornton.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319709089
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 351
Book Description
Nowadays remembered mostly through Adam Smith’s references to the short-lived Ayr Bank in the Wealth of Nations, the 1772-3 financial crisis was an important historical episode in its own right, taking place during a pivotal period in the development of financial capitalism and coinciding with the start of the traditional industrialisation narrative. It was also one of the earliest purely financial crises occurring in peacetime, and its progress showed an impressive geographical reach, involving England, Scotland, the Netherlands and the North American colonies. This book uses a variety of previously unpublished archival sources to question the bubble narrative usually associated with this crisis, and to identify the mechanisms of financial contagion that allowed the failure of a small private bank in London to cause rapid and severe distress throughout the 18th century financial system. It re-examines the short and turbulent career of the Ayr Bank, and concludes that its failure was the result of cavalier liability management akin to that of Northern Rock in 2007, rather than the poor asset quality alleged in existing literature. It furthermore argues that the Bank of England’s prompt efforts to contain the crisis are evidence of a Lender of Last Resort in action, some thirty years before the classical formulation of the concept by Henry Thornton.
This Time Is Different
Author: Carmen M. Reinhart
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691152640
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 513
Book Description
An empirical investigation of financial crises during the last 800 years.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691152640
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 513
Book Description
An empirical investigation of financial crises during the last 800 years.
Clashing Over Commerce
Author: Douglas A. Irwin
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022639901X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 873
Book Description
A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year: “Tells the history of American trade policy . . . [A] grand narrative [that] also debunks trade-policy myths.” —Economist Should the United States be open to commerce with other countries, or should it protect domestic industries from foreign competition? This question has been the source of bitter political conflict throughout American history. Such conflict was inevitable, James Madison argued in the Federalist Papers, because trade policy involves clashing economic interests. The struggle between the winners and losers from trade has always been fierce because dollars and jobs are at stake: depending on what policy is chosen, some industries, farmers, and workers will prosper, while others will suffer. Douglas A. Irwin’s Clashing over Commerce is the most authoritative and comprehensive history of US trade policy to date, offering a clear picture of the various economic and political forces that have shaped it. From the start, trade policy divided the nation—first when Thomas Jefferson declared an embargo on all foreign trade and then when South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union over excessive taxes on imports. The Civil War saw a shift toward protectionism, which then came under constant political attack. Then, controversy over the Smoot-Hawley tariff during the Great Depression led to a policy shift toward freer trade, involving trade agreements that eventually produced the World Trade Organization. Irwin makes sense of this turbulent history by showing how different economic interests tend to be grouped geographically, meaning that every proposed policy change found ready champions and opponents in Congress. Deeply researched and rich with insight and detail, Clashing over Commerce provides valuable and enduring insights into US trade policy past and present. “Combines scholarly analysis with a historian’s eye for trends and colorful details . . . readable and illuminating, for the trade expert and for all Americans wanting a deeper understanding of America’s evolving role in the global economy.” —National Review “Magisterial.” —Foreign Affairs
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022639901X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 873
Book Description
A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year: “Tells the history of American trade policy . . . [A] grand narrative [that] also debunks trade-policy myths.” —Economist Should the United States be open to commerce with other countries, or should it protect domestic industries from foreign competition? This question has been the source of bitter political conflict throughout American history. Such conflict was inevitable, James Madison argued in the Federalist Papers, because trade policy involves clashing economic interests. The struggle between the winners and losers from trade has always been fierce because dollars and jobs are at stake: depending on what policy is chosen, some industries, farmers, and workers will prosper, while others will suffer. Douglas A. Irwin’s Clashing over Commerce is the most authoritative and comprehensive history of US trade policy to date, offering a clear picture of the various economic and political forces that have shaped it. From the start, trade policy divided the nation—first when Thomas Jefferson declared an embargo on all foreign trade and then when South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union over excessive taxes on imports. The Civil War saw a shift toward protectionism, which then came under constant political attack. Then, controversy over the Smoot-Hawley tariff during the Great Depression led to a policy shift toward freer trade, involving trade agreements that eventually produced the World Trade Organization. Irwin makes sense of this turbulent history by showing how different economic interests tend to be grouped geographically, meaning that every proposed policy change found ready champions and opponents in Congress. Deeply researched and rich with insight and detail, Clashing over Commerce provides valuable and enduring insights into US trade policy past and present. “Combines scholarly analysis with a historian’s eye for trends and colorful details . . . readable and illuminating, for the trade expert and for all Americans wanting a deeper understanding of America’s evolving role in the global economy.” —National Review “Magisterial.” —Foreign Affairs
The Overseas Trade of British America
Author: Thomas M. Truxes
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300161301
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 465
Book Description
A sweeping history of early American trade and the foundation of the American economy In a single, readily digestible, coherent narrative, historian Thomas M. Truxes presents the three hundred–year history of the overseas trade of British America. Born from seeds planted in Tudor England in the sixteenth century, Atlantic trade allowed the initial survival, economic expansion, and later prosperity of British America, and brought vastly different geographical regions, each with a distinctive identity and economic structure, into a single fabric. Truxes shows how colonial American prosperity was only possible because of the labor of enslaved Africans, how the colonial economy became dependent on free and open markets, and how the young United States owed its survival in the struggle of the American Revolution to Atlantic trade.
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300161301
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 465
Book Description
A sweeping history of early American trade and the foundation of the American economy In a single, readily digestible, coherent narrative, historian Thomas M. Truxes presents the three hundred–year history of the overseas trade of British America. Born from seeds planted in Tudor England in the sixteenth century, Atlantic trade allowed the initial survival, economic expansion, and later prosperity of British America, and brought vastly different geographical regions, each with a distinctive identity and economic structure, into a single fabric. Truxes shows how colonial American prosperity was only possible because of the labor of enslaved Africans, how the colonial economy became dependent on free and open markets, and how the young United States owed its survival in the struggle of the American Revolution to Atlantic trade.
The American Colonies: From Settlement to Independence
Author: R.C. Simmons
Publisher: Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 678
Book Description
“[A] superior, wide-ranging text-book... Of the thirteen attractively-written chapters, six cover the period to 1713, four take the story to the end of the French and Indian War (the ‘neglected’ period is not neglected), and the last three deal with the crises that culminated in the Declaration of Independence. The focus is firmly on English-speaking, white people in the thirteen colonies, but blacks, Indians, the West Indies and Europeans and their colonies are skilfully introduced at the relevant points... the author has produced a tightly-written, comprehensive narrative (where necessary he points out the gaps in scholarship) that is smoothly blended with analysis, including undogmatic, judicious considerations of often controversial historiographical questions (further illuminated by a useful bibliography). The fine synthesis of recent scholarship and preoccupations is a major strength and alone should give the book wide readership and course adoption... Mr. Simmons... has written one of the best US colonial history texts.” — Wallace Brown, Journal of American Studies “Richard C. Simmons has written a textbook which... brings the burgeoning scholarship on early America under control and provides students with a graceful, rigorous introduction to American colonial history... this book presents a major problem in western history with integrity and assurance.” — Robert M. Calhoon, The Journal of American History “The American Colonies is a triumph of condensation... This is a highly successful ‘updated narrative introduction to early American history’, of value to students in both the American and the British colonial fields.” — Ian R. Christie, The English Historical Review “The American Colonies is, in Professor Jack P. Greene’s words which appear on the dustcover, ‘an extraordinarily judicious and intelligent synthesis of a vast literature...;’ with his judgment I fully concur. Professor Simmons has succeeded in that most difficult part of the historian’s craft: the creation of a general but succinct narrative which provides a distinct thesis based upon the research of specialists.” — Sheldon A. Silverman, The Canadian Historical Review “The American Colonies is doubly welcome, for its lucidity and scholarship and for the manner in which it distils an enormous literature with clarity and insight. It will be indispensable for specialist and student alike... the author’s mastery of a vast literature (the bibliography is splendid) makes the work much more valuable than an ordinary textbook.” — A. C. Davies, The Economic History Review “This book represents a considerable achievement which must be approached with respect and even awe... The writing is lively, the narrative line propelling, the organization balanced. R. C. Simmons has digested the recent scholarship and made it his own... The American Colonies deserves to be widely read — and admired for its merits — both within and without the classroom.” — J. M. Bumsted, The William and Mary Quarterly “Simmons has mastered the extensive literature of colonial American history and draws it together clearly, concisely and thoughtfully... probably the best place to begin the study of the American colonies.” — M. D. Kaplanoff, History “Simmons’ book is without a doubt a work of high academic rigor, intelligent, powerful and surprisingly clear in its rich content. This is a book every specialist or advanced student of American civilization cannot easily do without and to which he will constantly return.” — Christian Lerat, Revue Française d’Études Américaines
Publisher: Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 678
Book Description
“[A] superior, wide-ranging text-book... Of the thirteen attractively-written chapters, six cover the period to 1713, four take the story to the end of the French and Indian War (the ‘neglected’ period is not neglected), and the last three deal with the crises that culminated in the Declaration of Independence. The focus is firmly on English-speaking, white people in the thirteen colonies, but blacks, Indians, the West Indies and Europeans and their colonies are skilfully introduced at the relevant points... the author has produced a tightly-written, comprehensive narrative (where necessary he points out the gaps in scholarship) that is smoothly blended with analysis, including undogmatic, judicious considerations of often controversial historiographical questions (further illuminated by a useful bibliography). The fine synthesis of recent scholarship and preoccupations is a major strength and alone should give the book wide readership and course adoption... Mr. Simmons... has written one of the best US colonial history texts.” — Wallace Brown, Journal of American Studies “Richard C. Simmons has written a textbook which... brings the burgeoning scholarship on early America under control and provides students with a graceful, rigorous introduction to American colonial history... this book presents a major problem in western history with integrity and assurance.” — Robert M. Calhoon, The Journal of American History “The American Colonies is a triumph of condensation... This is a highly successful ‘updated narrative introduction to early American history’, of value to students in both the American and the British colonial fields.” — Ian R. Christie, The English Historical Review “The American Colonies is, in Professor Jack P. Greene’s words which appear on the dustcover, ‘an extraordinarily judicious and intelligent synthesis of a vast literature...;’ with his judgment I fully concur. Professor Simmons has succeeded in that most difficult part of the historian’s craft: the creation of a general but succinct narrative which provides a distinct thesis based upon the research of specialists.” — Sheldon A. Silverman, The Canadian Historical Review “The American Colonies is doubly welcome, for its lucidity and scholarship and for the manner in which it distils an enormous literature with clarity and insight. It will be indispensable for specialist and student alike... the author’s mastery of a vast literature (the bibliography is splendid) makes the work much more valuable than an ordinary textbook.” — A. C. Davies, The Economic History Review “This book represents a considerable achievement which must be approached with respect and even awe... The writing is lively, the narrative line propelling, the organization balanced. R. C. Simmons has digested the recent scholarship and made it his own... The American Colonies deserves to be widely read — and admired for its merits — both within and without the classroom.” — J. M. Bumsted, The William and Mary Quarterly “Simmons has mastered the extensive literature of colonial American history and draws it together clearly, concisely and thoughtfully... probably the best place to begin the study of the American colonies.” — M. D. Kaplanoff, History “Simmons’ book is without a doubt a work of high academic rigor, intelligent, powerful and surprisingly clear in its rich content. This is a book every specialist or advanced student of American civilization cannot easily do without and to which he will constantly return.” — Christian Lerat, Revue Française d’Études Américaines
From British Peasants to Colonial American Farmers
Author: Allan Kulikoff
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807860786
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 501
Book Description
With this book, Allan Kulikoff offers a sweeping new interpretation of the origins and development of the small farm economy in Britain's mainland American colonies. Examining the lives of farmers and their families, he tells the story of immigration to the colonies, traces patterns of settlement, analyzes the growth of markets, and assesses the impact of the Revolution on small farm society. Beginning with the dispossession of the peasantry in early modern England, Kulikoff follows the immigrants across the Atlantic to explore how they reacted to a hostile new environment and its Indian inhabitants. He discusses how colonists secured land, built farms, and bequeathed those farms to their children. Emphasizing commodity markets in early America, Kulikoff shows that without British demand for the colonists' crops, settlement could not have begun at all. Most important, he explores the destruction caused during the American Revolution, showing how the war thrust farmers into subsistence production and how they only gradually regained their prewar prosperity.
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807860786
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 501
Book Description
With this book, Allan Kulikoff offers a sweeping new interpretation of the origins and development of the small farm economy in Britain's mainland American colonies. Examining the lives of farmers and their families, he tells the story of immigration to the colonies, traces patterns of settlement, analyzes the growth of markets, and assesses the impact of the Revolution on small farm society. Beginning with the dispossession of the peasantry in early modern England, Kulikoff follows the immigrants across the Atlantic to explore how they reacted to a hostile new environment and its Indian inhabitants. He discusses how colonists secured land, built farms, and bequeathed those farms to their children. Emphasizing commodity markets in early America, Kulikoff shows that without British demand for the colonists' crops, settlement could not have begun at all. Most important, he explores the destruction caused during the American Revolution, showing how the war thrust farmers into subsistence production and how they only gradually regained their prewar prosperity.
The Real Revolution
Author: Marc Aronson
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780618181797
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Why did the American Revolution take place? It was about more than the dates and details we all know: war elephants charging a fort in India and high-stakes gambles of bankers in Scotland, among other events, also played a part in the "real revolution" in the minds of the entire population of what would become the United States.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780618181797
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Why did the American Revolution take place? It was about more than the dates and details we all know: war elephants charging a fort in India and high-stakes gambles of bankers in Scotland, among other events, also played a part in the "real revolution" in the minds of the entire population of what would become the United States.
Slavery, Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution
Author: Maxine Berg
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509552707
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 247
Book Description
The role of slavery in driving Britain's economic development is often debated, but seldom given a central place. In their remarkable new book, Maxine Berg and Pat Hudson 'follow the money' to document in revealing detail the role of slavery in the making of Britain’s industrial revolution. Slavery was not just a source of wealth for a narrow circle of slave owners who built grand country houses and filled them with luxuries. The forces set in motion by the slave and plantation trades seeped into almost every aspect of the economy and society. In textile mills, iron and copper smelting, steam power, and financial institutions, slavery played a crucial part. Things we might think far removed from the taint of slavery, such as eighteenth-century fashions for indigo-patterned cloth, sweet tea, snuff boxes, mahogany furniture, ceramics and silverware, were intimately connected. Even London’s role as a centre for global finance was partly determined by the slave trade as insurance, financial trading and mortgage markets were developed in the City to promote distant and risky investments in enslaved people. The result is a bold and unflinching account of how Britain became a global superpower, and how the legacy of slavery persists. Acknowledging Britain's role in slavery is not just about toppling statues and renaming streets. We urgently need to come to terms with slavery's inextricable links with Western capitalism, and the ways in which many of us continue to benefit from slavery to this day.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509552707
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 247
Book Description
The role of slavery in driving Britain's economic development is often debated, but seldom given a central place. In their remarkable new book, Maxine Berg and Pat Hudson 'follow the money' to document in revealing detail the role of slavery in the making of Britain’s industrial revolution. Slavery was not just a source of wealth for a narrow circle of slave owners who built grand country houses and filled them with luxuries. The forces set in motion by the slave and plantation trades seeped into almost every aspect of the economy and society. In textile mills, iron and copper smelting, steam power, and financial institutions, slavery played a crucial part. Things we might think far removed from the taint of slavery, such as eighteenth-century fashions for indigo-patterned cloth, sweet tea, snuff boxes, mahogany furniture, ceramics and silverware, were intimately connected. Even London’s role as a centre for global finance was partly determined by the slave trade as insurance, financial trading and mortgage markets were developed in the City to promote distant and risky investments in enslaved people. The result is a bold and unflinching account of how Britain became a global superpower, and how the legacy of slavery persists. Acknowledging Britain's role in slavery is not just about toppling statues and renaming streets. We urgently need to come to terms with slavery's inextricable links with Western capitalism, and the ways in which many of us continue to benefit from slavery to this day.
The Economy of Colonial America
Author: Edwin J. Perkins
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231063395
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 276
Book Description
The colonial era is especially appealing in regard to economic history because it represents a study in contrasts. The economy was exceptionally dynamic in terms of population growth and geographical expansion. No major famines, epidemics, or extended wars intervened to reverse, or even slow down appreciably, the tide of vigorous economic growth. Despite this broad expansion, however, the fundamental patterns of economic behavior remained fairly constant. The members of the main occupational groups - farmers, planters, merchants, artisans, indentured servants, and slaves - performed similar functions throughout the period. In comparison with the vast number of institutional innovations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, structural change in the colonial economy evolved gradually. With the exception of the adoption of the pernicious system of black slavery, few new economic institutions and no revolutionary new technologies emerged to disrupt the stability of this remarkably affluent commercial-agricultural society. Living standards rose slowly but fairly steadily at a rate of 3 to 5 percent a decade after 1650. (Monetary sums are converted into 1980 dollars so that the figures will be relevant to modern readers.) For the most part, this book describes the economic life styles of free white society. The term "colonists" is virtually synonymous here with inhabitants of European origin. Thus, statements about very high living standards and the benefits of land ownership pertain only to whites. One chapter does focus exclusively, however, on indentured servants and slaves. This book represents the author's best judgment about the most important features of the colonial economy and their relationship to the general society and to the movement for independence. It should be a good starting point for all - undergraduate to scholar - interested in learning more about the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This popular study, lauded by professors and scholars alike, has been diligently revised to reflect the tremendous amount of new research conducted during the last decade, and now includes a totally new chapter on women in the economy. Presenting a great deal of up-to-date information in a concise and lively style, the book surveys the main aspects of the colonial economy: population and economic expansion; the six main occupational groups (family farmers, indentured servants, slaves, artisans, great planters, and merchants); women in the economy; domestic and imperial taxes; the colonial monetary system; living standards for the typical family
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231063395
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 276
Book Description
The colonial era is especially appealing in regard to economic history because it represents a study in contrasts. The economy was exceptionally dynamic in terms of population growth and geographical expansion. No major famines, epidemics, or extended wars intervened to reverse, or even slow down appreciably, the tide of vigorous economic growth. Despite this broad expansion, however, the fundamental patterns of economic behavior remained fairly constant. The members of the main occupational groups - farmers, planters, merchants, artisans, indentured servants, and slaves - performed similar functions throughout the period. In comparison with the vast number of institutional innovations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, structural change in the colonial economy evolved gradually. With the exception of the adoption of the pernicious system of black slavery, few new economic institutions and no revolutionary new technologies emerged to disrupt the stability of this remarkably affluent commercial-agricultural society. Living standards rose slowly but fairly steadily at a rate of 3 to 5 percent a decade after 1650. (Monetary sums are converted into 1980 dollars so that the figures will be relevant to modern readers.) For the most part, this book describes the economic life styles of free white society. The term "colonists" is virtually synonymous here with inhabitants of European origin. Thus, statements about very high living standards and the benefits of land ownership pertain only to whites. One chapter does focus exclusively, however, on indentured servants and slaves. This book represents the author's best judgment about the most important features of the colonial economy and their relationship to the general society and to the movement for independence. It should be a good starting point for all - undergraduate to scholar - interested in learning more about the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This popular study, lauded by professors and scholars alike, has been diligently revised to reflect the tremendous amount of new research conducted during the last decade, and now includes a totally new chapter on women in the economy. Presenting a great deal of up-to-date information in a concise and lively style, the book surveys the main aspects of the colonial economy: population and economic expansion; the six main occupational groups (family farmers, indentured servants, slaves, artisans, great planters, and merchants); women in the economy; domestic and imperial taxes; the colonial monetary system; living standards for the typical family
Europe
Author: Brendan Simms
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 1846147255
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 824
Book Description
Half a millennium of European warfare brilliantly retold by masterly historian Brendan Simms At the heart of Europe's history lies a puzzle. In most of the world humankind has created enormous political frameworks, whether ancient (such as China) or modern (such as the United States). Sprawling empires, kingdoms or republics appear to be the norm. By contrast Europe has remained stubbornly chaotic and fractured into often amazingly tiny pieces, with each serious attempt to unify the continent (by Charles V, Napoleon and Hitler) thwarted. In this marvelously ambitious and exciting new book, Brendan Simms tells the story of Europe's constantly shifting geopolitics and the peculiar circumstances that have made it both so impossible to dominate, but also so dynamic and ferocious. It is the story of a group of highly competitive and mutually suspicious dynasties, but also of a continent uniquely prone to interference from 'semi-detached' elements, such as Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Britain and (just as centrally to Simms' argument) the United States. Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy will become the standard work on this crucial subject - and an extremely enjoyable one. Reviews: 'This is a brilliant and beautifully written history. From the Holy Roman Empire to the Euro, Brendan Simms shows that one of the constant preoccupations of Europeans has always been the geography, the power and the needs of Germany. Europe is a work of extraordinary scholarship delivered with the lightest of touches. It will be essential, absorbing reading for anyone trying to understand both the past and the present of one of the most productive and most dangerous continents on earth' William Shawcross 'World history is German history, and German history is world history.This is the powerful case made by this gifted historian of Europe, whose expansive erudition revives the proud tradition of the history of geopolitics, and whose immanent moral sensibility reminds us that human choices made in Berlin (and London) today about the future of Europe might be decisive for the future of the world' Timothy Snyder (author of Bloodlands) About the author: Brendan Simms is Professor of the History of International Relations at the University of Cambridge. His major books include Unfinest Hour: Britain and the Destruction of Bosnia (shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize) and Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire.
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 1846147255
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 824
Book Description
Half a millennium of European warfare brilliantly retold by masterly historian Brendan Simms At the heart of Europe's history lies a puzzle. In most of the world humankind has created enormous political frameworks, whether ancient (such as China) or modern (such as the United States). Sprawling empires, kingdoms or republics appear to be the norm. By contrast Europe has remained stubbornly chaotic and fractured into often amazingly tiny pieces, with each serious attempt to unify the continent (by Charles V, Napoleon and Hitler) thwarted. In this marvelously ambitious and exciting new book, Brendan Simms tells the story of Europe's constantly shifting geopolitics and the peculiar circumstances that have made it both so impossible to dominate, but also so dynamic and ferocious. It is the story of a group of highly competitive and mutually suspicious dynasties, but also of a continent uniquely prone to interference from 'semi-detached' elements, such as Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Britain and (just as centrally to Simms' argument) the United States. Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy will become the standard work on this crucial subject - and an extremely enjoyable one. Reviews: 'This is a brilliant and beautifully written history. From the Holy Roman Empire to the Euro, Brendan Simms shows that one of the constant preoccupations of Europeans has always been the geography, the power and the needs of Germany. Europe is a work of extraordinary scholarship delivered with the lightest of touches. It will be essential, absorbing reading for anyone trying to understand both the past and the present of one of the most productive and most dangerous continents on earth' William Shawcross 'World history is German history, and German history is world history.This is the powerful case made by this gifted historian of Europe, whose expansive erudition revives the proud tradition of the history of geopolitics, and whose immanent moral sensibility reminds us that human choices made in Berlin (and London) today about the future of Europe might be decisive for the future of the world' Timothy Snyder (author of Bloodlands) About the author: Brendan Simms is Professor of the History of International Relations at the University of Cambridge. His major books include Unfinest Hour: Britain and the Destruction of Bosnia (shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize) and Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire.