Introduction : the sixteen-page economic history of the world -- The logic of the Malthusian economy -- Material living standards -- Fertility -- Life expectancy -- Malthus and Darwin : survival of the richest -- Technological advance -- Institutions and growth -- The emergence of modern man --...

Preface -- Introduction: of ruling classes and underclasses : the laws of social mobility -- Social mobility by time and place -- Sweden : mobility achieved? -- The United States : land of opportunity -- Medieval England : mobility in the feudal age -- Modern England : the deep roots of the...