The Cambridge History of Capitalism. Volume I: The Rise of Capitalism from Ancient Origins to 1848; and Volume II: The Spread of Capitalism: From 1848 to the Present both ed. by Larry Neal and Jeffrey G. Williamson (review)

After decades in the shadows, capitalism is now a prominent term in academia. This scholarly two-volume collection of essays addresses the emergence of capitalist institutions and the consolidation and spread of capitalism after the middle of the nineteenth century. It is a major contribution to our understanding of capitalism’s history, by leading scholars in this area.

Together, the two volumes contain 34 essays, authored by a number of highly distinguished scholars. The two volumes have a coherent structure, and the essays fit together with a degree of cross-referencing that indicates a well-managed team effort. I strongly recommend this book for its breadth and depth of historical research.

The first volume is edited by Larry Neal. It is subtitled “The Rise of Capitalism: From Ancient Origins to 1848.” Each chapter in this volume undertakes a geographically and historically bounded analysis. The essays extend back in history to Michael Bursa’s chapter on “Babylonia in the First Millennium BCE,” in which he shows how investment in irrigation and state administration boosted productivity, the population, and trade specialisms. There is a chapter by Etienne de la Vassiere on the Silk Road, and another by Ann Carlos and Frank Lewis on Native Americans before 1800. The geographical range is widened by chapters on China by R. B. Wong, on India by Tirthankar Roy, on the Middle East by Sevkut Pamuk, on Latin America by Richard Salvucci, and on Africa by Morten Jerven.

All these excursions are of great interest, but some readers may wonder how relevant some of them are for the understanding of modern capitalism. (I raise this point later.) In other cases, however, important and relatively unknown connections are established. For example, Sevket Pamuk argues that some of the earliest capitalist institutional innovations in Italy—such as rules governing the issue of credit—were imported from the Abbasid caliphate, which ruled much of the Middle East from the eighth century to the tenth. More expectedly, there is a chapter on the Italian city states by Luciano Pezzolo and one on the Low Countries by Oscar Gelderblom and Joost Jonker. In the two penultimate chapters in this volume, Knick Harley focuses on “British and European Industrialization” and Jeremy Atack on “America: Capitalism’s Promised Land.”

The second volume is more thematic, and its topics are quite diverse. From a global perspective, it looks at the spread of manufacturing, the development of agriculture, technological change, firms, finance, war, labor movements, the welfare state, and other issues. Edited by Jeffrey Williamson, it is subtitled “The Spread of Capitalism: From 1848 to the Present.” Two chapters have a sectoral focus—namely, that by Robert Allen on manufacturing and that by Giovani Frederico on agriculture. The examination of industry and manufacturing is divided among several chapters. Some chapters address the organization of capitalist firms, including Geoffrey Jones on multinational corporations and Randall Morck and Bernard Yeung on “freestanding firms versus family pyramids.” Another important chapter, by Gareth Austin, is on “Capitalism and the Colonies.” In their richly detailed chapter, Kristine Bruland and David Mowery tackle the vital topic of “Technology and the Spread of Capitalism.” No less impressive is Mark Harrison’s chapter on “Capitalism at War.” In his essay, Harold James examines the forces at work behind the historical evolution of the international monetary system. Ron Harris contributes an important chapter on the spread of legal innovations in capitalism. Finally, Peter Lindert writes on the crucial topic of “Private Welfare and the Welfare State.”

The second volume shows that fully fledged capitalist institutions...