Economic Empire

Throughout time, from ancient Rome to modern Britain, the great empires built and maintained their domination through force of arms and political power. But not the United States. America has dominated the world in a new, peaceful, and pervasive way - through the continued creation of staggering wealth. In this authoritative, engrossing history, John Steele Gordon captures as never before the true source of our nation's global influence: wealth and the capacity to create more of it.

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE NOMINEE A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER A grand, devastating portrait of three generations of the Sackler family, famed for their philanthropy, whose fortune was built by Valium and whose reputation was destroyed by...

Hobsbawm discusses the evolution of European economics, politics, arts, sciences, and cultural life from the height of the industrial revolution to the First World War. Hobsbawm combines vast erudition with a graceful prose style to re-create the epoch that laid the basis for the 20th century. 

A revelatory history of expansion, influence and the making of American power. Historian Daniel Immerwahr exposes a forgotten truth: the United States has always been an empire. From Puerto Rico to Guam, the Philippines to a network of global military bases, How to Hide an Empire uncovers how U...

This edition of Super Imperialism is the finalized version of the analysis that Michael Hudson first published in the wake of President Nixon severing the dollar's link to gold in August 1971. Closing the gold window had been imminent since the London Gold Pool was disbanded in 1968 in response to the U.S. overseas military spending that had pushed the balance of payments into steadily deepening deficit since the Korean War (1950-51).

From the creator of the award-winning podcast series The History of Rome and Revolutions comes the fascinating history of the bloody battles, political machinations, and human drama that set the stage for the fall of the Roman Republic. "Remarkably engaging." —Washington Post The Roman...

Why do civilizations rise, flourish, weaken, and fall? Centuries before sociology had a name, before modern economics became a discipline, and before historians spoke of systems theory, one fourteenth-century Muslim thinker looked at the rise and fall of nations and saw a hidden pattern. His name was Ibn Khaldun. In his masterpiece, the Muqaddimah, Ibn Khaldun transformed history from a record of kings and battles into a science of civilization itself. He asked questions that still haunt the modern world: What holds a society together? Why do ruling classes decay? How does wealth weaken the...

In his stunning memoir, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins detailed his former role as an "economic hit man" in the international corporate skulduggery of a de facto American Empire. Now Perkins zeroes in on hot spots around the world, drawing on interviews to examine the current...

A rollicking, eye-opening history of the Star Wars franchise: an unrivaled force in popular culture that changed the way Hollywood makes movies—and that is now imperiled by many of the industry forces it set in motion From the premiere of the first film in 1977, the Star Wars franchise not...

The Echo of Ancient Civilizations, a Book by Bo Carson, is an indispensable guide for anyone seeking to walk in the path of the ancient world. With a masterful combination of scholarship and readability, retrace the rise and fall of civilizations from the earliest times to the Roman Empire. This book is a must-read for students of history, anthropology, and archaeology, as well as anyone with a passion for the rich tapestry of human culture. Whether you're looking to deepen your knowledge or explore a new area of study, "The Echo of Ancient Civilizations" is a great read. Dive into the ...

An urgent rethinking of the Western approach to mental health, which treats the symptoms rather than the exploitative systems causing our distress—by a Rhodes Scholar and Harvard Medical School physician-anthropologist—offering lessons from the rest of the world. What if the mainstay of...

From a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian: a searing study of the British Empire that probes the country's pervasive use of violence throughout the twentieth century and traces how these practices were exported, modified, and institutionalized in colonies around the globe Sprawling across a...

Brought to you by Penguin. When investigative journalist Dan McCrum first came across Wirecard, the hot new tech company that looked poised to challenge Silicon Valley, it all looked a little too good to be true: offices were sprouting up all over the world, they were reporting runaway growth...

This book presents a comprehensive history of the existential war waged between the Anglo-Dutch imperial system and what became known as the American System of political economy ever since the creation of the predatory British and Dutch East India Companies. On that basis, the book presents a counterintuitive solution to the crisis confronting humanity today, arguing that only a combination of the Four Powers, the USA, Russia, China and India, has the power to finally dismantle the Anglo-Dutch imperial system as it emerged from the British and Dutch East India Companies. The book documents ...

Bloomsbury presents The Racket: A Rogue Reporter vs The American Empire by Matt Kennard, read by John Hopkins. While working for the Financial Times, investigative journalist Matt Kennard had unbridled access to the crème de la crème of the global elite. From slanging matches with Henry...

NOW LIVE THE SECOND EDITION - Editing Issues Resolved PORTAL MAINTENANCE: POSTED Look, if you are looking for a serious, grimdark fantasy about a "Chosen One" fulfilling an ancient prophecy, I am not your author. But if you need a good laugh, interdimensional tax evasion, and weaponized 1970s upholstery? Pull up a chair. Look, if you think building an interdimensional gray-market empire is the hard part, you’re wrong. The hard part is figuring out how to scale it without the federal government seizing your front yard under eminent domain. I’m Joseph. Last month, I was a bankrupt systems...

Bloomsbury presents The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan, read by Mike Grady. The No. 1 Sunday Times and international bestseller – a major reassessment of world history in light of the economic and political renaissance in the re-emerging east For centuries, fame and fortune was to be found in...

In the summer of 1914, the City of London was the financial capital of the world. By 1917, it was weeks away from bankruptcy. How Britain Pawned an Empire to Buy Victory reveals the untold economic history of World War I—a conflict that was fought not just with soldiers and shells, but with gold bullion and credit lines. While history books focus on the trenches of the Western Front, a far more decisive battle was raging in the boardrooms of Wall Street and the vaults of the Bank of England. This gripping narrative explores how the cost of modern industrial warfare forced the British ...

Discover the untold economic history of how the Dutch Republic—once the envy of the world—inadvertently financed the rise of its greatest rival. In the 17th century, the Dutch Republic stood as the undisputed "Workshop of the World." Through sheer ingenuity, they revolutionized global trade with inventions like the wind-powered sawmill and the cargo-dominating Fluyt ship. They established the first true global reserve currency in the Golden Guilder and built an economic engine that seemed unstoppable. But hidden within their unprecedented success lay the seeds of their eventual decline....

A well-researched and entertaining look at how money is a made-up thing that has evolved over time to suit humanity's changing needs, from the co-host of the NPR podcast Planet Money. "Should be required reading." —The New York Times Money only works because we all agree to believe in it. In...