This two volume set reprints 37 important contributions dealing with international trade throughout the world during the rise of Great Britain to world dominance, the industrialization of Western Europe, and the political and economic expansion of European powers into Asia, Africa and the Americas.The period from 1700 to 1850 saw many dramatic changes in the world economy. Frequent war among the European nations also affected these changes, influencing the timing and perhaps the ultimate magnitude of intercontinental trade.

In addition to discussions of commodity trade in different parts of the world, essays in these volumes deal with the effects of governmental policies towards the flows of capital and labour and the emergence of trading institutions and their impacts on economic development. Many deal with controversial topics such as the role of slavery and the slave trade on European development, the burdens of mercantilism, and the impact of European expansion on the economies of the less developed parts of the world.