Empire of Cotton
A Global History
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group · Print & ebook · November 10, 2015
WINNER OF THE BANCROFT PRIZE • A Pulitzer Prize finalist that's as unsettling as it is enlightening: a book that brilliantly weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist. “Masterly … An astonishing achievement.” —The New York Times The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, workers and factory owners.
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- Who it’s for
- Cotton becomes a clear-eyed lens on the forces that built modern capitalism—and its inequalities.
- Themes
- Global capitalism, Slavery and labor, Wealth and inequality
- Genres
- Economic History, Colonialism & Its Aftermath, Imperialism
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Start with this bookAbout this book
WINNER OF THE BANCROFT PRIZE • A Pulitzer Prize finalist that's as unsettling as it is enlightening: a book that brilliantly weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist. “Masterly … An astonishing achievement.” —The New York Times The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, workers and factory owners.
Continue reading
Sven Beckert makes clear how these forces ushered in the world of modern capitalism, including the vast wealth and disturbing inequalities that are with us today. In a remarkably brief period, European entrepreneurs and powerful politicians recast the world’s most significant manufacturing industry, combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to make and remake global capitalism.
Cotton and Capitalism
Cotton becomes a clear-eyed lens on the forces that built modern capitalism—and its inequalities.
Come here for
- A global history told through one consequential industry
- Connections between empire, slavery, machines, and modern wealth
Expect
- An account of struggle among workers, planters, merchants, and statesmen
- An unsettling view of capitalism’s origins and enduring inequalities
Where it sits
| Economic History | 49% |
|---|---|
| Imperialism | 19% |
| Colonialism & Its Aftermath | 16% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- 19th-Century America
- World History
- Agriculture & Food Systems
- Authors
- Sven Beckert
- Publisher
- Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Published
- November 10, 2015
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Global capitalism · Slavery and labor · Wealth and inequality
- Reading lane
- 19th-Century America