Bound Together
How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped Globalization
Published on 27. June 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-0-300-13623-4 (ISBN)
Description
A wide-ranging and original history of globalization, examining how it has developed and what it means for the future
Since humans migrated from Africa and dispersed throughout the world, they have found countless ways and reasons to reconnect with each other. In this entertaining book, Nayan Chanda follows the exploits of traders, preachers, adventurers, and warriors throughout history as they have shaped and reshaped the world. For Chanda, globalization is a process of ever-growing interconnectedness and interdependence that began thousands of years ago and continues to this day with increasing speed and ease. In the end, globalization-from the lone adventurer carving out a new trade route to the expanding ambitions of great empires-is the product of myriad aspirations and apprehensions that define just about every aspect of our lives: what we eat, wear, ride, or possess is the product of thousands of years of human endeavor and suffering across the globe. Chanda reviews and illustrates the economic and technological forces at play in globalization today and concludes with a thought-provoking discussion of how we can and should embrace an inevitably global world.
Since humans migrated from Africa and dispersed throughout the world, they have found countless ways and reasons to reconnect with each other. In this entertaining book, Nayan Chanda follows the exploits of traders, preachers, adventurers, and warriors throughout history as they have shaped and reshaped the world. For Chanda, globalization is a process of ever-growing interconnectedness and interdependence that began thousands of years ago and continues to this day with increasing speed and ease. In the end, globalization-from the lone adventurer carving out a new trade route to the expanding ambitions of great empires-is the product of myriad aspirations and apprehensions that define just about every aspect of our lives: what we eat, wear, ride, or possess is the product of thousands of years of human endeavor and suffering across the globe. Chanda reviews and illustrates the economic and technological forces at play in globalization today and concludes with a thought-provoking discussion of how we can and should embrace an inevitably global world.
Reviews / Votes
"By unbundling the attributes of modern globalization and linking them to an almost endless chain of historical precedents, Mr. Chanda demystifies a phenomenon invested by its enemies with nearly satanic properties."-William Grimes, New York Times"A lively book that is packed with incident, anecdote and derring-do. . . . Mr. Chanda makes a solid and attractive case for globalisation and its potential as a force for good. But he also has a great deal of sympathy for globalisation's losers."-Economist
"While most of us consider globalization to be a purely contemporary phenomenon-conjuring up images of multinational coffee chains and multilingual call centers-to Chanda it is as old as humanity itself, and as complex and unpredictable. . . . His encyclopedic survey of the forces and events that have connected individuals, societies and cultures is nimbly paced and punctuated by lively anecdotes. . . ."-Ishaan Thardoor, Time
"[An] engaging analysis. . . . This is a book filled with fascinating information. And Chanda makes the most of his training as both a journalist and a scholar, bringing to his tale a reporter's eye and sense of pacing as well as an impressive breadth of knowledge."-Jeffrey N. Wasserstein, Newsweek
"With the perspective of a historian and the savvy of a political scientist, Chanda skillfully argues that globalization was, is and will always be inevitable. . . . Like a good mystery, Chanda's chronology is rich with surprises and moments of revelation."-Publishers Weekly
"What stands out in Bound Together is its astonishing historical reach - which provides the basis for Chanda's examination of globalization."-Sam Mendelson, Financial World
"To find a book that is prepared to venture into the lion's den, and actually say something new and interesting about a subject that has been done to death and contaminated by polemics is a rariety. To find a book that can say this with calm fluency and gentle argument is a pleasure . . . Bound Together does all this, and it does it in a literary style that is largely free of both economic theory and jargon."-Julius Sen, World Business
"Well told, full of interesting details. . . . It should be prescribed reading for all those who think they are still living in a world of nation-states or who even want to migrate there in their minds."-Hans-Heinrich Nolte, Global History
Received Honorable Mention for the 2007 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award in the History category
"Nayan Chanda has written an invaluable, and in my view unique, history of globalization-how the concept emerged, evolved, was defused, and has now come to define today's international system. I learned a ton from this book, and I've already written two books on the subject. Students will find its analyses and anecdotes easily accessible and experts will find its arguments original and provocative. It is a real contribution to the literature-a must-read for anyone interested in understanding or teaching this subject."-Thomas L. Friedman, author of The World Is Flat
"Bound Together is a graceful recounting of modern globalization with a panoramic perspective. Studded with meaningful and entertaining anecdotes, it is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how we got where we are today."-Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel laureate in economics
"A magnificent and masterly achievement. Nayan Chanda has taken a buzzword of our era, globalization, and defined it in the full, rich, complex context of a phenomenon that has shaped humanity over the millennia. He conveys his prodigious knowledge with clarity, wit, and narrative verve, weaving themes from the history of science, politics, commerce, and religion into a coherent, compelling story."-Strobe Talbott, president, The Brookings Institution
"Bound Together is a wonderful book that provides us with a rich and holistic perspective on globalization. The book is a must for every student of globalization."-R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd.
"Bound Together is destined to be a classic book for the 21st Century. Author Nayan Chanda has combined deep and far-ranging scholarship with a journalist's touch for story telling to craft an enthralling narrative of humankind from our birth in Africa to our addiction to the Internet. Chanda is a true global citizen. His book should be read in every home, school, business and embassy in the world, and become a vital part of our common intellectual heritage."-Ambassador Derek Shearer, Chevalier Professor of Diplomacy and Director of Global Affairs, Occidental College, Los Angeles
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
10 b-w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
590 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-300-13623-4 (9780300136234)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Nayan Chanda is director of publications, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, and editor, YaleGlobal Online. He is former editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review and the Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly.