Transitions to Capitalism in Early Modern Europe

Robert S. DuPlessis, Professor Emeritus of History at Swarthmore College, has published widely on the history of textile industries, material culture and consumption. His most recent works include The Material Atlantic: Clothing, Commerce, and Colonization in the Atlantic World, 1650–1800 (Cambridge, 2015), for which he was awarded the Jerry J. Bentley Prize by the World History Association in 2016. He has received fellowships from The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, The Camargo Foundation, The National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation.

'A sweeping and compelling account of the changing contours of Europe's economy from the mid-fifteenth century to the early-nineteenth century. With a deep and abiding interest in a broad interpretation of capitalism, Robert DuPlessis weaves together with exceptional clarity and fairness debates and polities both well-known and obscure. This book will become a focus of debate and a prod to research.' David Hancock, University of Michigan

• Preface; Part I: 1. Issues and interpretations; 2. European economies on the eve of globalization; Part II: Introduction: the long sixteenth century; 3. Goods and people on the move; 4. The limits of agricultural growth; 5. Industrial tradition and innovation; Part III: Introduction: from seventeenth-century crisis to long eighteenth century; 6. Commerce, capital, consumption; 7. Agriculture: divergence, development, disappointment; 8. Proto-industry to early Industrial Revolution; 9. Transitions; Appendices.