The Wheels of Commerce (Civilization and Capitalism: 15Th-18th Century -Volume 2) (Civilization & Capitalism, 15th-18th Century) by Fernand Braudel (PDF)

Description

The subject of The Wheels of Commerce is the development of mechanisms of exchange―shops, markets, trade networks, and banking―in the pre-industrial stages of capitalism.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From Library Journal Originally published in the early 1980s, Civilization traces the social and economic history of the world from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution, although his primary focus is Europe. Braudel skims over politics, wars, etc., in favor of examining life at the grass roots: food, drink, clothing, housing, town markets, money, credit, technology, the growth of towns and cities, and more. The history is fascinating and made even more interesting by period prints and drawings. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review “The intricacy of detail and boldness of hypothesis in this book are indisputable, and if one is to do more than skim it, it demands and repays enormous attention. . . . The lavish illustrations are superbly well chosen. The pictures show the endless variety of commercial dealings of which humans are capable.”–Jonathan Spence, “New York Times Book Review From the Back Cover ‘The intricacy of detail and boldness of hypothesis in this book are indisputable, and if one is to do more than skim it, it demands and repays enormous attention…The lavish illustrations are superbly well chosen. The pictures show the endless variety of commercial dealings of which humans are capable.’ Jonathan Spence, New York Times Book Review Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Wow, by far one of the best books that I have ever read. I usually do not like history because I prefer to be more proactive and immersed in today’s world. But the clarity on our society’s current situation that this book gives by examining the roots of the movement to capitalism is incredible and was so worth my time that I had to take a week’s vacation off work in order to make sure that I could focus to read this. The writing conveys only one thing – complete clarity into the world today. It is an incredible opus; I loved it.There is no easy answer to the challenges we humans face in organizing and creating a shared activity to enable the greatest overall productivity and happiness. The evolution of humanity during the early Renaissance years provides the explanation for where and why we are organized in this way today. Understanding this time in this way (through the lens of the economics of that time period) gives a much greater appreciation for the world today that we have constructed. The most core problems of humanity – social mobility, equitable distribution of resources, stability, and collective cooperation, have never (and may never) become solvable. This book explains these dynamics so eloquently that I wish I had time to read it again and again – much like a great adventure novel that as a kid you just wished would never end and felt a real loss once it did and you had to re-emerge into the real world around you.Braudel is phenomenal in his depth of understanding about how society of the 15-18th centuries operated. I can’t recommend it more highly.

⭐It was in prime condition, hardly used.

⭐By far the deepest perspective into the complex and very long transition from feudalism to capitalism I’ve read. Frustrating to those of us, and I admit I’m one, who’d prefer a simpler easier hermeneutic.

⭐All three volumes are fascinating. Well, sometimes the sheer volume of examples and documents can be daunting, but the illustrations are like wandering through a museum. He manages to bring life and light to dry and dusty details like bills of exchange. I’d recommend this to anybody who is really curious about history.

⭐Massive work, full of details, by the master of economic history. A word of caution: You have to dig very hard, in order to collect the priceless and intriguing meanings of this work. In the end you will be rewarded!!!

⭐I ordered for book club. Struggled to get through the book. Would be interesting for someone with a great interest in economics.

⭐An in depth understanding of business and capitalism’s birth as a natural progression from bartering for goods and labor.

⭐Very good

⭐A great achievement of factual collation across a broad chronological and socio-economic sphere. However, the plethora of detail sometimes overwhelms the overarching theme of the development of capitalism. There are some fascinating narratives of micro-history and glimpses into the minds and actions of proto-capitalists, as well as the societies within which they functioned – France and Spain, as well as England and Holland and further afield in Asia and the New World. It’s interesting to note that the fortunes from early colonies were usually made not by the colonial producers but by the merchants and pre-capitalist financiers parlaying through exchange products for which they paid little into European currency worth multiple times the cost price. An explanation, perhaps, of how modern-day developed countries still manage to cream off the surplus value of countries rich in commodities, leaving poverty and sometimes famine in the midst of plenty. Also interesting to note that types of joint stock company (or associations) developed in trading even before the creation of the Muscovy Company in 1535,as pre-capitalism came into its own in large-scale, high risk overseas ventures needing large initial outlay and the ability to tolerate long waits until their ships literally “came in”. The volume is a treasury of such details, although it is difficult to synthesize them into a final conclusion. The weakest spot is the treatment of the Far East tacke don at the end, which relies heavily on Norman Jacobs and some rather sparse evidential material to draw some sweeping extrapolations and comparisons with developments in Europe – some seductive correlations, unfortunately not supported by the factual underpinning. Inevitably there are longueurs. Nevertheless, it is well worth the effort to persevere and – as said elsewhere, the journey is relieved by many fine illustrations. (If only some of them could have been in colour.) A sometimes hard slog, but a magnificent work of scholarship that should long endure.

⭐I’ve been cherry-picking the sections that interest me most, so I can’t honestly form an opinion on the entire work but thus far I’ve found it extremely thorough. The more I read, the better my perspective gets on the complicated growth of commerce over the centuries.

⭐きれいな本でした。内容はもともとはフランス語からの英訳ですが、的確な訳だと思い、満足しています。

⭐

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