Part of a series of detailed reference manuals on American economic history, this volume traces the development and growth of American commerce from the era of the Great Depression until World War II.

In "The Rise of Cotton Mills in the South," Broadus Mitchell presents a thorough examination of the industrial transformation of the Southern United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His meticulous narrative intricately interweaves economic data with social history, revealing how the region's agrarian roots evolved into a burgeoning textile industry. Mitchell'Äôs scholarly style is marked by a compelling combination of empirical analysis and vivid historical recounting,...

The Cotton Legacy gathers four classic studies of an industry that transformed agriculture, commerce, labor, and political economy on both sides of the Atlantic. Moving between institutional history, economic analysis, regional investigation, and broader social interpretation, the volume traces cotton's rise from a valuable crop to a system with worldwide consequences. Its juxtaposition of accounts of cultivation, trade, industrial expansion, and social change makes the collection especial...

Legacy of Cotton: A Collection of Seven Informative Books assembles a wide-ranging body of writing on a commodity whose history reaches into agriculture, industry, commerce, labor, and social transformation. Across its seven constituent books, the collection offers varied explanatory modes—from historical narrative and economic inquiry to cultural observation and institutional analysis—inviting readers to consider cotton not merely as a crop but as a force shaping modern life. Its breadth ...

The Ultimate Textile Library: 23 Essential Reads gathers a capacious body of writing on cloth, dress, manufacture, ornament, and material culture. Ranging from technical instruction and historical description to criticism, design theory, ethnographic observation, and social analysis, the volume reveals textiles as both crafted objects and records of human exchange. Its juxtaposition of studies of weaving traditions, decorative practice, industrial production, and the cultural meanings of f...

This is the twenty-third edition of the "Harvard Economic Studies", focusing on the intricacies of the boot and shoe industry in Massachusetts before 1875. It chronicles the evolution and development of the industry from 1760-1875 and includes supplementary chapters on such subjects as Medieval shoemaking tools, modern shoe repair, contemporary manufacturing processes, and more. This volume is highly recommended for those with an interest in the history of the shoe industry, and it is not ...

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERA powerful and persuasive discussion about economics, freedom, and the relationship between the two, from today's brightest economist.In this classic discussion, Milton and Rose Friedman explain how our freedom has been eroded and our affluence undermined through the explosion of laws, regulations, agencies, and spending in Washington. This important analysis reveals what has gone wrong in America in the past and what is necessary for ...

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A gripping, groundbreaking biography of the combative man whose genius and force of will created modern capitalism.In this groundbreaking biography, T.J. Stiles tells the dramatic story of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, the combative man and American icon who, through his genius and force of will, did more than perhaps any other in...

"Though the story of the potato famine has been told before, it's never been as thoroughly reported or as hauntingly told." — New York PostIt started in 1845 and before it was over more than one million men, women, and children would die and another two million would flee the country. Measured in terms of mortality, the Great Irish Potato Famine was the worst disaster in the nineteenth century—it claimed twice as many lives as the American Civil War. A perf...

“A remarkable biography . . . Well written and researched, this book warrants a spot on every serious American history student’s bookshelf.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewShe was the first woman to run for president. She was the first woman to address the U.S. Congress and to operate a brokerage firm on Wall Street. She’s the woman Gloria Steinem called “the most controversial suffragist of them all.” So why have most people never heard of Victoria Woodhu...

For more than half a century, the U.S. dollar has been not just America's currency but the world's. It is used globally by importers, exporters, investors, governments and central banks alike. Nearly three-quarters of all $100 bills circulate outside the United States. The dollar holdings of the Chinese government alone come to more than $1,000 per Chinese resident. This dependence on dollars, by banks, corporations and governments around the world, is a source of strength for the United S...

Washington, D.C., is home to the most influential power brokers in the world. But how did we come to call D.C.—a place once described as a mere swamp "producing nothing except myriads of toads and frogs (of enormous size)," and which was strategically indefensible, captive to the politics of slavery, and the target of unbridled land speculation—our nation's capital? In Washington, acclaimed, award-winning author Fergus M. Bordewich turns to the backroom deal-making and shifting al...