Rating: 
Summary: Socioeconomic History of the World
Review: Prof. Landes has proven himself astute, erudite, and in all ways learned of the social and economic history of the world at the macro scale. He has also proven himself a target for the liberal left - he has dared to speak factually on politically incorrect subject material. He has dared to talk about facts and figures, causes and effects, without stopping to protect/rationalize in favor of all non-European peoples from the obvious evils of all peoples European . What a refreshing insight - Europeans were not all alike (and evil) in the so-called "Age of Discovery" - Africans were not all alike, either, neither were Native Americans, or any other religious, ethnic or geographic group of peoples. We don't have to apply Affirmative Action to history (and economics) to learn - in fact, we're better off evaluating the base facts without the political bias, if we are ever to roam close to the truth. Prof. Landes is very persuasive in his arguments - for example: why did China fall behind the West in all measures of personal welfare and productivity (after an early lead), and why does China still suffer? The answer is not in geography or even in combinations of external factors - it lies within the root of the Chinese governmental and social system of repression and xenophobia, which persists to the present day. Another excellent example of the insight and analysis that Landes provides is his examination of the effects of religion - there can be little doubt that the repression of women will continue to drag down the societies in which this religious-based bias pervades. His comparison of Spain (once dependent upon the flow of precious metal from the Americas, marginalized when the flow ceased due to the lack of national industry, handicapped by the continuing intolerance of the Catholic Church) to Saudi Arabia should be a great warning to that country (which will no doubt go unheeded for the next hundred years - at which point the dependency on oil will suddenly uncover - a complete lack of national industry). Provocative, insightful commentaries herein - a very welcome addition to the top shelf of first rate "world histories". Bring on the critics - Prof. Landes is more than up to the task.
Rating:
Summary: Everything you wanted to know about economic history, but...
Review: I have only praise for this volume. Firstly narrative: It read like a thriller; hard to put down. Secondly content: the scope is vast with fine detail in addition to excellent references for further reading. Landes has combined real world knowledge with scholarly research to produce a tome that is immensely readable and rewarding. It is hard not to recommend his work to others. The book is written without regard for unnecessary political correctness; fearless. He clearly addresses aspects of recent history that is usually mired in vagueness and doublespeak. Wisdom and humour shine throughout. It reads like the author was able to magically place himself in various regions at different time periods, observing the proceedings and the back stabbing politics that normally accompany these historical events. And best of all, do look forward to the trivia candy strewn along in the book. For example, while making a point on the relevance of the State, he informs us that in Ottoman Turkey firefighting in the hands of private enterprise would respond efficiently when the alarm sounded. They competed with one another and negotiated with the house owner on the spot. As the negotiation proceeded, the fire burned higher and the stakes diminished. In light of the rewarding experience in reading this book, I am prepared to overlook his statement on the advantage Asians have in fine electronic assembly due to the inherent skill learnt by wielding a pair of chopsticks!
Rating:
Summary: Packed with Knowledge!
Review: David S. Landes has written an extraordinary economic history that will open your eyes about countries' economic flops and good fortune. He also covers what makes a country achieve - and keep - great economic success. The book will appeal not only to economic history buffs, but also to the average person who needs to know how to keep a company or a country from economic trouble. Not to mention, he offers lots of great cocktail party anecdotes to impress your friends. Landes builds on solid economic data, but his unusual factual nuggets and vivid commentary are what make the book such a pleasure to read. In an age where politicians seek to make sure America stays economically relevant amid huge trade friction, We believe this book is a must-read for not just the chief executive officer, but for the rank-and-file workers who want to make sure they will be winners, not losers, in international trade. Landes has cooked up a great feast of economic history. Come, draw up a chair to the table and partake of this rich bounty.
Rating: 
Summary: Political Economics as the Art of Diagnosis
Review: I'm a physician, and as a pre-med major in college I was fortunate enough to have been able to avoid any undergraduate courses in economics. For this reason, I was not obliged to un-learn the tenets of a typical Keynesian/Samuelsonian "Econ 101" indoctrination, and was free to pursue an autodidactic inquiry into the principles of political economics when I got into medical school (during the Carter administration, when the U.S. national economy, under the gentle guidance of Mr. Carter and his buddies, was emulating the *S.S. Titanic* en route to the bottom of the Atlantic). I came to the study of economics, therefore, as one comes to the study of pathology -- and during the Carter years, the study of the U.S. economy was akin to the study of European public health during the Black Death. I began to read extensively, to question the accepted verities of my father's generation (which, I discovered, had been precisely what got us *into* that bloody mess), and to develop a "disease model" which explained with satisfactory fidelity the pathogenesis of what was being called "The Carter Malaise." What I find remarkable about Landes' *The Wealth and Poverty of Nations* is the fact that Dr. Landes had actually come to an analysis of economic "physiology" which is remarkably congruent to the one I figured out for myself while reading Henry Hazlitt's *The Conquest of Poverty* and Frederic Bastiat's *Economic Sophistries* between memorization of Grant's *Anatomy* and hammering on chapters from Goodman & Gilman's *The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics.* To put it succinctly, Dr. Landes has discovered that an economy can only function properly if the rights of the individual human being -- specifically the rights to life, liberty, and property -- are not transgressed upon. These negative rights (upon which are predicated all positive rights) function economically in much the same way that negative feedback functions in bodily physiology to secure that homeostatic internal environment wherein the individual cells of the body can survive and provide for one another. An economy, like the internal environment of a healthy human body, regulates itself. Attempts to consciously command the economy -- like efforts to purposefully regulate bodily physiology -- will always run into problems of deranged feedback (as, indeed, they always have). The *only* law that operates invariably in the realm of *dirigiste* political economics is the law of unintended consequences (as "The Carter Malaise" demonstrated so exquisitely). That such a discovery should be articulated by an emeritus member of the academic staff of Harvard University struck me as just plain astonishing. How the devil did Dr. Landes manage to disguise such a capacity for common sense during his years in Stalingrad-on-the-Charles, anyway? Surely anyone with the ability to perceive such a truth -- and speak it so eloquently -- should have been long ago sniffed out by his raveningly socialist colleagues, to be killed and eaten thereby. I find *Wealth and Poverty of Nations* to have been encyclopedic, good-humored, erudite, and eminently readable. It has obviously enraged a great many people (all of whom soundly *deserve* to be enraged), and is quite the most "politically incorrect" work of nonfiction I've read in the past five years.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Enjoyable
Review: This book is a very entertaining and thoughtful read. Chances are you have heard something of it - if you have wandered to it. The question you may have is: is this book boring? Given the topic and scope of the work it may seem to be a bit too bookish for some people, but it really isn't. Landes, as has been pointed out, is an exceptionally good writer. His wit and insight are remarkable. On the actual topics discussed in the book. It, as has also been pointed out, much more of a history book than an economics book. He may have borrowed the title from Adam Smith, but that is about as far he is going to go with that topic. (Besides his many humorous jabs at compartive advantage.) The lack of economics may, for some readers, be a bit discouraging. After all studying wealth without economics may seem to be measuring with the wrong tools. But his insights and beliefs are somewhat outside the field of economics. None of his major turning points in history really require economic understanding. Discovery of America, the Meiji restoration, China's inward culture, Medieval inventions. He then relates how these events and the culture of the people relate to their nation's power. I wouldn't want to ruin all of his examples or insight by listing them all here. Of course you might not agree with everything he says. Does anyone ever agree with everything someone says? I wasn't quite sure what to make of his views on protectionist polices. Some people (myself not included) were offended by his generalizations of people. But to dismiss reading it because one doesn't agree with everything would be to miss out on a great book. Besides it is a fascinating topic, and great writing can make up for almost any small failing.
Rating:
Summary: Great overview of world history from the Economic viewpoint
Review: Whats not to like about this book? If you have any interest in history, sociology, or economics it will be right up your alley. As a Senior finishing up my Econ degree I found the background information in the book to be very illuminating. Despite high level of information contained inside it is written clearly and in a manner that the layperson may understand. This book will rest on my shelf amidst my favorites.
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Summary: A good book about development and economic history
Review: Basically this books boils down to the fact that culture and geography does play a part in the economic development of a nation, something that may sound obvious to veteran travelers but is ignored or dismissed by a great number of people in the academic and political world (especially that of inter-govermental organizations like the World Bank). But in order to prove his point the author writes a kind of economic history of the world, from the time of nomadic societies to the present, or more precisely, the mid-1990's. At some parts he does go into innecesary detail, with some entertaining stories at the end of certain chapters, but even then these serve to prove his theory even more, and one feels better off for having learned it. One of the reviewers complained about a problem with Lande's thesis, that it doesn't fit with England's history. It seems like he missed some parts of the book. For nearly an entire chapter (26 - Loss of Leadership)is spent explaining the reasons the UK fell behind. Those basically involve a refusal by the then-stubborn english to change management and production methods. The proof is the english auto industry, which had a hard time leaving its old custom of producing small quantities of hundreds of different models of cars.
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Summary: Culture Drives Economics - Especially Puritanical Culture
Review: The central theme of the book boils down to the above. Although the book is great history - and I enjoy reading history - I found the author's conclusions to be unconvincing and somewhat anti- climactic after overwhelming the reader with some 500 pages of facts and anecdotes. The author is also unapologetically Euro-centric. His readiness to dismiss lesser civilizations may rankle some readers. Although it's hard to argue that culture does play a role in economic develop- ment, it is also pretty obvious that culture and economics form a feedback loop, that economics influences culture as much as culture influences economics. I found it incredible that the author was so ready to dismiss the impact of such factors as over-population and constraints on resources. Simply stating that a certain culture is somehow anti-entrepreneurial and anti-technological does not constitute a persuasive argument. Greed - for the lack of a better word - is stronger than habit. For a man who tirelessly touts the importance of culture in economic development, his antagonism toward "multiculturalism" is disturbing. Does he not realize that immigrants are the great engine of American growth, and that immigrants come to America precisely because of its cultural tolerance?
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: Very good book. Logical, factual and thorough research. The conclusions are not tinted by political opinions. Gives an honest, even maybe harsh, reasoning behind the current state of economic developments throughout the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply Idiotic
Review: Though I enjoyed Landes' humour sometimes, this book is by no means an honest endeavour to answer the question posed by the title. The work is mostly rhetoric. Though I agree with some of his conclusions but his arguments are almost always fellacious. This is my first history reading and I have almost no background on the subject. Still after few chapters it became clear that the book does not meet the criteria of an academic writing. It is a shame for Harvard that Landes carries its credentials!
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