Review
"Steven Marks has written the best - and certainly the most compelling - single study of the historical origins of modern capitalism. This terrific book demolishes many hard-held beliefs and ideologies about capitalism, for instance that it is based on control of capital! Marks makes a skilful case that the way we organize and share information is central to the way we behave in politics but also in the economy."
Harold James, author of Family Capitalism and Making the European Monetary Union
"Using public information to reinforce and validate traditional ties of personal trust within a business community creates an information nexus, which Steven Marks argues is at the heart of modern capitalism and continues to be so. Everyone who thinks they know what capitalism is today, how it came to be, and where it is headed, has a lot to learn and think about after reading this book."
Larry Neal, author of A Concise History of International Finance and co-editor of The Cambridge History of Capitalism
"In stressing the importance of collecting, processing, exchanging and utilizing information for the rise and the working of capitalism, The Information Nexus breaks new ground. It is original and very readable, presenting well-known facts in a new light. Steve Marks's distinctive take on capitalism neatly fits our present-day experiences and the problems of the digital age. It deserves a broad audience."
Jürgen Kocka, author of Capitalism: A Short History
‘In this disruptive study, Clemson University historian Steven G. Marks redefines capitalism by breathing new life into concepts recycled from nineteenth-century German sociology. … The Information Nexus is a remarkable study, not only for the power of its message, but also for the clarity of its prose and for the vast field of research compressed into its 250 pages. … Steven G. Mark’s study of the role of information flows in the creation of this capitalist Gesellschaft definitely merits a place on history bookshelves, whether real or virtual.' Leonard Dudley, EH.Net
'The 20th century ushered in the 'information age,' and Marks presents the historical origins and globalization of capitalism. … Marks does an excellent job of showing the importance and history of linking information to capitalism over seven centuries. … Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.' R. T. Sweet, Choice
'The Information Nexus is a remarkable achievement, strongly and clearly argued' Business History Review
'… very valuable and quite a lucid and pleasurable read, accessible to non-academic, educated laypersons, and much recommended for any scholar or student of economic history.' Jonathan Barth, Journal of World History
'If we agree that the duty of historians is to examine the past out of a commitment to the present and the future of the societies in which they live, then The Information Nexus clearly fulfills this duty and as such, can be seen as a timely and well-deserved contribution to the economic history bookshelf.' Amir Lavie, The Prospectus
Book Description
A provocative new book calling into question everything we thought we knew about capitalism and what makes it unique.
About the Author
Steven Marks is Professor of History at Clemson University, South Carolina. He has written books and articles on Russian economic and cultural history, all with a comparative global focus, including How Russia Shaped the Modern World (2003), on the international reception of Russian ideas, and Road to Power (1991), on the creation of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The Information Nexus is the summation of his thinking on world economic history and the history of capitalism, subjects he has taught for more than twenty years. He received his PhD from Harvard University in 1988.
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