Description
Book SynopsisThis book focuses on the beginnings of capitalism in Central Europe with emphasis on the German-speaking areas from the 14th to the 17th century. It also reviews and assesses the writings on the topic by the most important thinkers of the twentieth century. At the center of the presentation are the developments in mining, metallurgy, smelting, book publishing, clock making, ship building and advances in trade, commerce and finance. This book will be of interest to students of medieval and early modern European history, the so-called transition debate of feudalism to capitalism, social scientists and historians who are interested in the various transitions in human history, and philosophers who follow developments in the changing issues regarding freedom and bondage over the course of human development. Anthropologists who are familiar with Krader's writings on the development of the Asiatic mode of production will be interested to see how Krader treats this transition from feudalism
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations – List of Tables – About the Author and This Book by Cyril Levitt – Preface: Krader in Context by David Levine – Reply to Krader in Context by Cyril Levitt – Translator’s Foreword – Acknowledgements – Author’s Foreword – Author’s Introduction – The Beginnings of Modern Bourgeois Society in Central Europe: The Bourgeois Revolution from the 15th–17th Centuries – Theoretical Conceptions of the Transition from Feudalism to the Modern Era in the History of Central Europe: Marx, Weber and Troeltsch, Sombart and Kulischer, Schumpeter – Labour Processes in Central Europe, 15th–17th Centuries – Machines, Mechanics, Time and Geometry – Mining and Metallurgy – Europe in the World – Capitalism and Developed Culture – From the Social Contract to the Concept of Society – Bibliography – Illustrations – Index.
