Empire of Cotton
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
Empire of Cotton
| Full title | Empire of Cotton: A Global History |
|---|---|
| Author | Sven Beckert |
| Published | 2014 |
| Pages | 615 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | Beckert’s Bancroft-winning global history of the cotton industry — how European merchants and statesmen built the first genuinely worldwide manufacturing complex out of imperial expansion, slave labor, machines and wage work. |
Where I heard about it
- Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) — opening a ten-post thread on X, September 2025: “It’s a bit repetitive in its main theses, and sometimes a bit of a slog, but well worth reading for those interested in the history of trade and industrial policy.”
Connections
- Globalization — cotton as the first global supply chain.
- Industrial Policy — the state’s hand in building the industry, which is Pettis’s reason for the recommendation.
- Manufacturing — the industry the modern factory system was invented to serve.
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.