Hard work and cold winters, or how Britain & America took over the economic world

I have not studied history, economics or politics since I was 12 years old, my focus at the time was on science and trying to make the New Zealand cricket team. So when a friend lent me The Wealth and Poverty of Nations I was worried it would assume prior study referenced knowingly in a "as Johnson wrote in his 1872 treatise" fashion. Fortunately this book does not require prior reading, just as well as it's a long haul on it's own, covering the economic development and shifts in wealth that shaped the modern world.

History is written by the winners and historical works have to point out reasons the other side lost, however this book is not a one sided take on the failures of others, the crimes of English sailors receive as much attention as the bloody colonization of South America by Spain.

Making broad conclusions about one culture's "performance" vs another is a sensitive topic at best and David Landes is careful to strike a neutral tone when showing how various points in time India, China, England, Spain, Holland and Portugal dominated parts, if not all of trade. Yet all but Britain (and later America) let it slip. Weather, disease, free trade, religious tolerance, government control, greed... some or all were factors in great nations fall from prominence and most of the time the decline was self inflicted. Spain and Portugal only took, they never built. China was unified yet unable to tolerate progress and was passed by, while India was too hot and divided internally, the aristocracy preferring to make alliances with foreign powers than with each other.

The role of winter was new to me. Long cold spells of weather killed off disease annually and let the industry and merchant class work longer with higher output. Many countries see snow however so it is untrue to say "they only made it because of the weather." Other nations had the advantage, notably Spain, however once the economic needle of the world shifted to industrial output Britain had a well established model ready to take over the world, and did.