Globalisation – or, more precisely, the integration of economies due to falling costs of distance – has been one of the great forces of history, largely unstoppable but to some extent governable. Neither an argument for or against globalisation, Brian Easton's Globalisation and the Wealth of Nations is a careful and thorough analysis of the issues of globalisation and an imaginative and wide-ranging picture of the globalised and globalising world. It aims both to inform readers and to enable them to improve their own decisions about how to harness globalisation. The book explores the economic theory behind globalisation, the political and social consequences and finally the various options for nations in a globalised world. Individual chapters use case studies to focus on a particular historical experience; for example, a chapter on cities and industry economies of scale focuses on New York; one on technology transfer focuses on Japan; and one on nationalism focuses on Germany. Thoughtful and clear, Globalisation and the Wealth of Nations extends our understanding of this much written-about and misunderstood phenomenon that exerts so strong an influence over today's world.