Empire of cotton : a global history
(Book)
Author
Published
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2015.
Format
Book
ISBN
9780375414145, 0375414142
Physical Desc
xxii, 615 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Status
Staff View
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Description
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More Details
Published
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2015.
Language
English
ISBN
9780375414145, 0375414142
Notes
General Note
"This is a Borzoi Book"--Title page verso.
General Note
Reprint. Originally published: 2014.
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description
"The epic story of the rise and fall of the empire of cotton, its centrality in the world economy, and its making and remaking of global capitalism. Sven Beckert's rich, fascinating book tells the story of how, in a remarkably brief period, European entrepreneurs and powerful statesmen recast the world's most significant manufacturing industry combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to change the world. Here is the story of how, beginning well before the advent of machine production in 1780, these men created a potent innovation (Beckert calls it war capitalism, capitalism based on unrestrained actions of private individuals; the domination of masters over slaves, of colonial capitalists over indigenous inhabitants), and crucially affected the disparate realms of cotton that had existed for millennia. We see how this thing called war capitalism shaped the rise of cotton, and then was used as a lever to transform the world. The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, farmers and merchants, workers and factory owners. In this as in so many other ways, Beckert makes clear how these forces ushered in the modern world. The result is a book as unsettling and disturbing as it is enlightening: a book that brilliantly weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist"--,Provided by publisher.
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Citations
APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)
Beckert, S. (2015). Empire of cotton: a global history . Alfred A. Knopf.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Beckert, Sven. 2015. Empire of Cotton: A Global History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Beckert, Sven. Empire of Cotton: A Global History New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Beckert, Sven. Empire of Cotton: A Global History Alfred A. Knopf, 2015.
Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.