Description
Cotton seems like a simple fiber, but its story reveals how the modern world was built. Tracing the global cotton trade across more than two centuries, this sweeping history follows the shifting alliances of growers, merchants, and manufacturers as they chase markets, power, and profit—from the Industrial Revolution to the American Civil War and the long aftershocks of colonial rule. Along the way, it examines how systems of coercion and exploitation were woven into the supply chain, and how political decisions and economic ambition helped reshape entire regions. With Sven Beckert’s rigorous, narrative-driven approach, the book shows that the rise of capitalism was not abstract—it was cultivated, harvested, and transported in the fields and factories of cotton’s empire.
Available Editions
paperback
Knopf
Published Jan 1, 2014
641 pages
ISBN: 9780375414145
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Details
First Published
2014
Language
eng
Content Warnings
Content and trigger warnings for Empire of Cotton by Sven Beckert.