This book describes and evaluates how institutional innovation and technological innovation have impacted on humanity from pre-historical times to modern times, and how societies have been transformed in history. The author interrogates the relationship between innovation and civilisation --...

Introduction -- The importance of warfare -- Europe's urban rise -- Evaluating the safe harbor effect -- Evaluating the warfare-to-wealth effect -- Warfare to wealth in comparative perspective -- Epilogue

Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: The 1891-92 Crisis and Beyond -- Chapter 3: World War I and the 1920s Financial Crisis -- Chapter 4: The Estado Novo period: The 1930s and World War II -- Chapter 5: The Estado Novo period after World War II: The golden age of economic growth (1946-1973) --...

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the pre-modern economic history of Central Asia and the Silk Road, covering several millennia. By analyzing an abundance of sources and materials, it illustrates the repeated economic heydays of the Silk Road, during which it linked the Orient and...