7 April, 2020
This chronology of trade reads as enjoyably as a captivating historical novel. Bernstein believes “The history of world trade is best told through carefully selected stories and ideas.” and his narrative is a real page turner. The two anchors of this book are that trade is an “intrinsic human impulse” and that productive globalization through trade is woven throughout some 5000 years of history. The importance of the natural herb trade, and the rise of spice trade during the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries as the worlds most sought-after commodities are carried forward in time through the emergence of coffee and the mass marketing of commodities around the world. A fascinating and entertaining read.
