Read by Mel Foster

Adam Smith wrote that man has an intrinsic "propensity to truck, barter,
and exchange one thing for another". But how did trade evolve to the
point where we don't think twice about biting into an apple from the
other side of the world?

In A Splendid Exchange, William J. Bernstein tells the extraordinary
story of global commerce from its prehistoric origins to the myriad
controversies surrounding it today. He transports listeners from ancient
sailing ships that brought the silk trade from China to Rome in the
second century to the rise and fall of the Portuguese monopoly in spices
in the 16th; from the rush for sugar that brought the British to Jamaica
in 1655 to the American trade battles of the early 20th century; from
key innovations such as steam, steel, and refrigeration to the modern
era of televisions from Taiwan, lettuce from Mexico, and T-shirts from
China.

Along the way, Bernstein examines how our age-old dependency on trade
has contributed to our planet's agricultural bounty, stimulated intellectual
progress, and made us both prosperous and vulnerable. Although the impulse
to trade often takes a backseat to xenophobia and war, Bernstein concludes
that trade is ultimately a force for good among nations, and he argues
that societies are far more successful and stable when they are involved
in vigorous trade with their neighbors.

Lively, authoritative, and astonishing in scope, A Splendid Exchange
is a riveting narrative that views trade and globalization not in political
terms, but rather as an evolutionary process as old as war and religion
- a historical constant - that will continue to foster the growth of
intellectual capital, shrink the world, and propel the trajectory of
the human species.

Download File Size:452.36 MB

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