Sven Beckert is Laird Bell Professor of American History at Harvard University. He is also the author of The Monied Metropolis: New York and the Consolidation of the American Bourgeoisie.
A masterpiece of the historian's craft: combining a global scope
with concern for the nuances of individual experience, Beckert
tracks the fortunes of a single commodity, cotton, across six
continents and thousands of years. That sweeping project is driven
by the attempt to unravel the causes and consequences of one
overarching puzzle: "why, after many millennia of slow economic
growth, a few strands of humanity in the late eighteenth century
suddenly got much richer." On the way to his answer, Beckert
uncovers a history he claims "provides the key to understanding the
modern world." . . . The belief that discovering the origins of
economic growth might unlock modernity's secrets raises questions
that are even more tantalizing
*The Nation*
A fascinating and profound examination of the history of a crop
that played a transformative role in the making of the modern
world. Beckert manages to keep in view a remarkable cast of
characters, from planters and slaves in the United States to
British industrialists and factory workers, and farmers in India,
Egypt, and China. The Empire of Cotton is global history as it
should be written
*Eric Foner*
Masterly . . . Deeply researched and eminently readable, "Empire of
Cotton" gives new insight into the relentless expansion of global
capitalism. With graceful prose and a clear and compelling
argument, Beckert not only charts the expansion of cotton
capitalism. . . he addresses the conditions of enslaved workers in
the fields and wage workers in the factories. An astonishing
achievement
*NY Times*
Persuasive . . . brilliant . . . Beckert's detailed narrative never
scants the rich complexity of the cotton trade's impact on many
different societies
*Boston Globe*
Empire of Cotton' proves Sven Beckert one of the new elite of
genuinely global historians. Too little present-day academic
history is written for the general public. 'Empire of Cotton'
transcends this barrier and should be devoured eagerly, not only by
scholars and students but also by the intelligent reading public.
The book is rich and diverse in the treatment of its subject. The
writing is elegant, and the use of both primary and secondary
sources is impressive and varied. Overviews on international trends
alternate with illuminating, memorable anecdotes . . . Beckert's
book made me wish for a sequel
*The Washington Post*
Important . . .a major work of scholarship that will not be soon
surpassed as the definitive account of the product that was, as
Beckert puts it, the Industrial Revolution's 'launching pad
*New York Times Book Review*
Hefty, informative, and engaging . . . Beckert's narrative skills
keep the story of capitalism fresh and interesting for all
readers
*Publishers Weekly*
An engrossing narrative
*History Today*
Beckert is a big-order thinker. His book offers a masterly picture
of the empire of cotton as an economic system that held together
myriad different parts...Beckert's ability to write a history on
this scale is impressive indeed
*Times Literary Supplement*
Sven Beckert's Empire of Cotton: A Global History is certainly a
must-read for specialists as well as the lay reader. The lucid
style and the wide canvas, both in time and space, make the book
riveting
*The Hindu*
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