Premodern trade in world history
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Premodern trade in world history
(Themes in world history)
Routledge, 2009
- : hbk
- : pbk
Available at 10 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Practically published in 2008
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Trade and commerce are among the oldest, most pervasive, and most important of human activities, serving as engines for change in many other human endeavors.
This far-reaching study examines the key theme of trading in world history, from the earliest signs of trade until the long-distance trade systems such as the famous Silk Road were firmly established. Beginning with a general background on the mechanism of trade, Richard L. Smith addresses such basic issues as how and why people trade, and what purpose trade serves. The book then traces the development of long-distance trade, from its beginnings in the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods through early river valley civilizations and the rise of great empires, to the evolution of vast trade systems that tied different zones together.
Topics covered include:
* products that were traded and why;
* the relationship between political authorities and trade;
* the rise and fall of Bronze Age commerce;
* the development of a maritime system centered on the Indian Ocean stretching from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea;
* the integration of China into the world system and the creation of the Silk Road;
* the transition to a modern commercial system.
Complete with maps for clear visual illustration, this vital contribution to the study of World History brings the story of trade in the premodern period vividly to life.
Table of Contents
List of Maps. Acknowledgements. Preface 1. Some Introductory Musings 2. In the Beginning 3. The First Link 4. Land of Gold 5. Into the Aegean and out of the Bronze Age 6. Of Purple Men and Oil Merchants 7. Shifting Cores and Peripheries in the Imperial West 8. When India was the Center of the World 9. Following the Periplus 10. The All-Water Route 11. From the Jade Road to the Silk Road 12. The Last Link. Epilogue. Bibliography
by "Nielsen BookData"