Originally published in 1930, this book is a detailed but lucid piece of historical writing which answers many questions about ancient and medieval history that are most important for understanding contemporary economic problems. The economic history of Europe in modern times is both the history of agriculture, industry and commerce of a continent over 5 centuries and the history of a series of changes in economic organization which have been dominant in making the modern world what it is. This book gives due weight to both of these aspects. As well as being an account of sequences of events, it is also an account of changing forms of economic activity, alterations of the economic structure of society and emerging economic problems in the 20th Century.