The history of nations is a history of haves and have-nots, and as we approach the millennium, the gap between rich and poor countries is widening. In this engrossing and important new work, eminent historian David Landes explores the complex, fascinating and often startling causes of the wealth and poverty of nations. The answers are found not only in the large forces at work in economies: geography, religion, the broad swings of politics, but also in the small surprising details. In Europe, the invention of spectacles doubled the working life of skilled craftsmen, and played a prominent role in the creation of articulated machines, and in China, the failure to adopt the clock fundamentally hindered economic development. The relief of poverty is vital to the survival of us all. As David Landes brilliantly shows, the key to future success lies in understanding the lessons the past has to teach us - lessons uniquely imparted in this groundbreaking and vital book which exemplifies narrative history at its best.

More than a decade after the publication of his dazzling book on the cultural, technological, and manufacturing aspects of measuring time and making clocks, David Landes has significantly expanded "Revolution in Time." In a new preface and scores of updated passages, he explores new findings about medieval and early-modern time keeping, as well as contemporary hi-tech uses of the watch as mini-computer, cellular phone, and even radio receiver or television screen. While commenting on the latest research, Landes never loses his focus on the historical meaning of time and its many perceptions and uses, questions that go beyond history, that involve philosophers and possibly, theologians and literary folk as well.

David Landes scrutinizes powerful family businesses in Europe, Japan and America to determine what factors can cause a dynasty to fourish or fail. Focusing on banking, cars and raw materials, he looks at the Fords, Rothschilds, Agnellis, Guggenheims, Rockefellers and Toyodas.

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Rothschilds • Morgans • Fords • Toyoda • Agnellis • Rockefellers • Guggenheims Dynastic family businesses have everything: extraordinary success, bizarre eccentricity, bitter rivalry – as well as pots of money and power. Yet almost no one has looked closely enough to see what it is that really makes them tick. In Dynasties, award-winning author David Landes casts his eye over some of the most powerful family businesses in Europe, Japan and America. On the way, he provides thrilling histories of the characters who have made their mark on the world and passed on a legacy – sometimes benign and sometimes not – to their descendants.

'Nay, Nay, Nay, not by the scales on my finny fin fin!' Grab your fishing pole and reel in an adventure that will catch fathers and children hook, line, and sinker. David L. Landes's Three Little Fish tells the tale of three brave little fish who outwit the big bass in the lake, proving that a little brainpower can go farther than a lot of brawn!