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The Relentless Revolution: A History of Capitalism Hardcover – January 4, 2010

by Joyce Appleby (Author)

19 customer reviews

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The unlikely development of a potent historical force, told with grace, insight, and authority by one of our best historians.

With its deep roots and global scope, the capitalist system provides the framework for our lives. It is a framework of constant change, sometimes measured and predictable, sometimes drastic and out of control. Yet what is now ubiquitous was not always so. Capitalism took shape centuries ago, starting with a handful of isolated changes in farming, trade, and manufacturing, clustered in early-modern England. Astute observers began to notice these changes and consider their effects. Those in power began to harness these new practices to the state, enhancing both. A system generating wealth, power, and new ideas arose to reshape societies in a constant surge of change.

The centuries-long history of capitalism is rich and eventful. Approaching capitalism as a culture, as important for its ideas and values as for its inventions and systems, Joyce Appleby gives us a fascinating introduction to this most potent creation of mankind from its origins to now.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Arguing that capitalism is a cultural—rather than purely economic—phenomenon, Appleby (Liberalism and Republicanism in the Historical Imagination) traces its trajectory through European, American, and Asian successes and setbacks, its unhappy experiments in colonization, the world wars, and into contemporary India and China. She narrates the rise of capitalism as a process of accretion, starting with Dutch agricultural innovations that were adopted and improved upon by the British. This set England on the path to controlling famine and, ultimately, freed capital and labor for trade. Appleby turns Marxism on its head as she proposes that the new social relations introduced in England as a result of converting common land into freeholds were the consequence, not the cause, of the transformation in English farming. If this sounds like breathless global time travel, it is still a laudable effort at demonstrating that there was nothing inevitable about the rise of capitalism. Both scholarly and accessible, this book unpacks a complex web of seemingly unrelated events; its dazzling achievements are tarnished only by multiple misnomers: there is no city called Calico in India (there's a Calicut) and no language called Hindu (it's Hindi). (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Historian Appleby traces capitalism (a system based on individual investments in the production of marketable goods) from early industrialization to the present global economy. She explores the benchmarks in capitalism’s ascent, looking at how this system transformed politics while churning up practices, thoughts, values and ideals that had long prevailed within the cocoon of custom. It changed the way people thought and planned, and the author shows how different societies respond to its challenges up to the twenty-first century and the world recession of 2008–09. She explains that the 2008 financial crisis was caused by the era of deregulation from the late 1970s to 1999, while vast sums of money circulated through global markets and the growth in financial assets outpaced real economic activity. Appleby concludes that since capitalism is a set of practices and institutions that permits billions of people to pursue their interests in the marketplace, it is highly likely that panics and bubbles will occur again. This is an excellent book. --Mary Whaley

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Product details

Hardcover: 512 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st Edition edition (January 4, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393068943
ISBN-13: 978-0393068948
Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.6 x 9.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
Average Customer Review: 19 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #194,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #138 in Books > History > Historical Study & Educational Resources > Historiography
- #175 in Books > Business & Money > Economics > Free Enterprise
- #615 in Books > Business & Money > Biography & History > Economic History

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J. Baroni

Should be Required Reading

March 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

Absolutely a great read. Summarizes, enlightens, and puts together the disparate pieces of history and human nature to explain how we arrived at our current state of civilization. Mostly apolitical, it transports the reader through the centuries and helps one imagine how one would think and act if born at the time or in a specific country. She spends equal time pointing out the good and the bad and the trials and tribulations encountered along the way. The title is very apt and although I new many of the facts presented, the totality and the integration provided helps one fully grasp the whys of what occurred and transpired through our revolution of the human condition through free market capitalism and it various outgrowths up to where we find ourselves today or at least to 2010. Easy enjoyable read.

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BAB

The Relentless Revolution: A History of Capitalism

July 24, 2010

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

A superb book. Even though I have been interested in economics, political and social systems, etc. since college, this book opened up some new perspectives for me for understanding these things as they really are and as they have evolved. It should be on the reading list of anyone interested in political and economic debates.

7 people found this helpful

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July 28, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Read it. Love it. You should read it too.

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David S. Wellhauser

Good Entry For The Topic

December 8, 2010

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

No cares to read long-winded reviews which twist symphonically through a text. Therefore, I intend to keep this short and sweet.

This is a competent narrative history of Capitalism. The author is, mostly, well read in the topic but does drop the ball a few times (in this reviewers opinion).

Here are some of the areas I would disagree with (there are others)
The location of the Industrial Revolution does not belong, really, in the 18th century but in the Renaissance (where the intellectual tools were manufactured). There is an artificial nature to her discussion of Britain and she seems to be confused about when to refer to England and when to Great Britain (she a Yank...no surprise there). She tends to conflate the Scottish and English Enlightenments. Then there is the issue of Korea. The numbers are correct, when speaking of the Korean Miracle, but her analysis of women in Korea (today) is based on a New York Times article which I would disagree with (I've lived in Korea for nearly 8 years).

On the whole, however, this was a very competent history but one that was more a history of the world (mostly the West) since the 18th Century rather than a history of Capitalism...the author used Capitalism to interpret modern history and not vice-versa.

If the reader is looking for a competent history of Capitalism that eschews deep analysis (if you are looking for Herodotus rather than Thucydides) then this is the history for you. All in all, a good entry level text for understanding the contextual forces of Capitalism.

A little biased on the Keynesian side for my tastes. I'm more Austrian School and a Free-marketeer that is prepared to accept the bumpy ride than have the Nanny State tell me how to live my life. Still an adequate investigation of the issue.

11 people found this helpful

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June 13, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A long list of things you already know written at the level of a high school text. If this passes for historical analysis at UCLA it is embarrassing.

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October 21, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I'm just getting into it; so far so good.

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January 9, 2012

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I'm still plowing through this. It's not quite as enjoyable as I thought it would, especially given the interesting topic.

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An excellent historical survey of the development of capitalism

April 10, 2010

Format: Hardcover

If you want a solid historical survey of the history of capitalism from someone who has no ideological axes to grind, this will fit the bill. In fact, because so many books written about capitalism are written either by principled debunkers or impassioned boosters, it is important to read multiple accounts. The notion that capitalism has a history is for some a radical claim. Some libertarians insist on the primacy of capitalism in a way that would suggest that capitalism is a natural, primordial economic system to such a degree that it is pretty much inevitable. Appleby, on the other hand, sees the development of capitalism as a highly contingent, event, something that might not have happened had not the right cultural preconditions existed (such as advances in agriculture that made it possible for a large number of the populace to leave farms for factories.

Appleby is primarily a historian who has focused on the 18th and early 19th centuries, so it is not a surprise that these are some of the most interested chapters in the book. The 19th century chapters were also quite good, but I felt that the book became a bit free ranging in the final chapters. The topics discussed were valid and important, but the connections between these chapters were not always clear.

One think I liked about Appleby's book is that she made it clear both what she sees as capitalisms undeniable strengths (its ability to generate large amounts of wealth, to raise the quality of life for many, and provide recreation time for many workers) and its lamentable and hopefully correctable weaknesses (its tendency towards exploitation such as with slavery or sweatshops, the way it creates vast economic inequality, and its failure to spread the wealth to everyone, even though there is an adequate supply of food and other resources to do so). As a historian rather than an ideologue, she is able to take a more sober and balanced look at the history of the economic system than most. While I recommend that one reason several books on the subject, this is definitely one of the books that I recommend.

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