A Splendid Exchange

[An] entertaining and greatly enlightening book . . . Bernstein is a fine writer and knows how to tell a great story well. . . . A Splendid Exchange is a splendid book. -- The New York Times Superb . . . [A] significant contribution . . . The chronological range of Bernstein's book is staggering. . . . A Splendid Exchange is a work of which Adam Smith and Max Weber would have approved.... What really marks Bernstein out is his talent in understanding, and then explaining, international commercial linkages. --Paul Kennedy, Foreign Affairs Sparkling...Fascinating...One freewheeling historical passage follows another... A Splendid Exchange is saved from any possible tedium by its feast of contrarian conclusions, its broad historical sweep, and, especially, its vivid characters. - Businessweek Highly entertaining...In an era when trade is defined by interminable World Trade Organization talks and offers nothing more romantic than slab-sided container ships ploughing between nondescript ports, William Bernstein's book is like a trip to the movies to watch Johnny Depp swinging through the rigging. -Hugh Carnegy, Financial Times Rollicking...Mr. Bernstein whisks his reader on a tumultuous journey.... A Splendid Exchange is a timely and readable reminder that the desire to trade is not only one of the oldest human instincts but also the cause of many of the most important developments in our shared history....For anyone wanting a painless primer in the ideas of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, or more recent economists, such as Paul Samuelson, this is the place to find it. - The Economist A Splendid Exchange is filled with adroit observations on the evolution of trade from the ancient world to today. Bernstein draws upon a vast historical context to show how trade's development is part of society's natural progression toward prosperity, and he makes a convincing case that trade and trade policy have been the catalyst for