This book advances a new theory of why nationalism emerged in the modern world. In particular it explains why nationalism and economic development are closely linked, and why warfare plays a crucial role in the spread of the nation-state system. It is based on qualitative and quantitative...

Introduction -- Origin and purposes of the second bank -- The second bank's branch network and the state banking system -- The second bank and the "exchanges" : conquering space -- The "production" of monetary stability -- The second bank's specie market operations -- Conclusion

Acknowledgements -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Changing strategies and global power in the long eighteenth century -- Eighteenth-century realities and historiographical approaches -- Administering the fiscal-military state : ordinary revenues : trusting in a consumers world -- Increasing...