Man’s worldly goods

The story of the wealth of nations

Leo Huberman, Central Books, 360 pages, paperback £9.95

Sometimes going back to an old classic can shed much light on the troubled world we live in today.

Written in 1936, American socialist Leo Huberman describes his book as “an attempt to explain history by economic theory, and economic theory by history”.

Examining the path from feudalism to capitalism, Man’s worldly goods is guaranteed to cure the reader of any phobia of economics — and it is as readable as a good novel.

Initially commissioned as a text for young people before being revised for an adult audience, the economic theory is filled with passion at the injustice and suffering meted out to humanity by the development of capitalism.

Huberman tells how “good Queen Bess” made a royal fortune from Francis Drake’s pirating exploits and encouraged slave trading. He outlines historical developments and shows how economic ideas were linked to the class interests of particular economists. Anyone struggling to understand the roots of the financial crisis strangling the world today could do worse than to start here.

This reprint of Huberman’s masterpiece will make his ideas accessible to a new generation. And if you had a copy in the past and lent it to someone else to read, well, here is your chance to rediscover Huberman with a brand new copy.

Reviews contributed by Bookmarks, the UK’s leading socialist bookshop. Order online at www.bookmarksbookshop.co.uk