Wealth And Poverty Of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich And Some So Poor

David S Landes

WW Norton, May 4, 1999 - History - 672 pages

"Readers cannot but be provoked and stimulated by this splendidly iconoclastic and refreshing book." —Andrew Porter, New York Times Book Review

The Wealth and Poverty of Nations is David S. Landes's acclaimed, best-selling exploration of one of the most contentious and hotly debated questions of our time: Why do some nations achieve economic success while others remain mired in poverty? The answer, as Landes definitively illustrates, is a complex interplay of cultural mores and historical circumstance. Rich with anecdotal evidence, piercing analysis, and a truly astonishing range of erudition, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations is a "picture of enormous sweep and brilliant insight" (Kenneth Arrow) as well as one of the most audaciously ambitious works of history in decades.

About the author

David S. Landes (1924—2013) was professor emeritus at Harvard University and the author of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, Bankers and Pashas, The Unbound Prometheus, and Revolution in Time.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Wealth And Poverty Of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich And Some So Poor
• Author: David S Landes
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: WW Norton, 1999
• ISBN: 0393318885, 9780393318883
• Length: 672 pages
• Subjects: History / General