This is the third book of essays on the United States and the world economy produced by the fruitful collaboration of Monthly Review editors Paul M. Sweezy and Harry Magdoff. In these essays, written between 1977 and 1981, the authors assess the results of efforts taken to stabilize the economy after the epochal changes of the early 1970s, the end of capitalism's "golden age," by attempts to counteract the effects of inflation, debt dependence, speculation, and financial instability.

"'The economic history of European jews' attempts to make sense of the economic foundations of Jewish life in the different parts of late antique and early medieval Europe. In the first part Michael Toch describes the demographic arc, decline, subsequent rise, and spatial distribution of Jewish populations. This data is then broadened to include the range of economic activities. The second part analyses the actual share of Jews in different branches of the economy. This includes the idea of their pioneer role and the notion of an intercontinental network of Jewish commerce, the phenomenon of Jews in agriculture and entrepreneurship, gender roles and the household mode of production, and the difficult subject of the significance of minority status for economic activity, among others"--provided by publisher.

Leading writer Boris Kagarlitsky offers an ambitious account of a thousand years of Russian history. Encompassing all key periods in Russia's dramatic development, the book covers everything from early settlers, through medieval decline, Ivan the Terrible-the "English Tsar", Peter the Great, the Crimean War and the rise of capitalism, the revolution, and the Soviet period, finally ending with the return of capitalism after 1991. Setting Russia within the context of the "World System", as outlined by Wallerstein, this is a major work of historical Marxist theory that is set to become a future classic.

Published in 1988, Essays on the Economic History of the Middle East is a valuable contribution to the field of Middle Eastern Studies.

This book presents the history of the Gomez, an elite family of Mexico that today includes several hundred individuals, plus their spouses and the families of their spouses, all living in Mexico City. Tracing the family from its origins in mid-nineteenth-century Mexico through its rise under the Porfirio Diaz regime and focusing especially on the last three generations, the work shows how the Gomez have evolved a distinctive subculture and an ability to advance their economic interests under changing political and economic conditions. One of the authors' major findings is the importance of the kinship system, particularly the three-generation "grandfamily" as a basic unit binding together people of different generations and different classes. The authors show that the top entrepreneurs in the family, the direct descendants of its founder, remain the acknowledged leaders of the kin, each one ruling his business as a patron-owner through a network of clienty2Drelatives. Other family members, though belonging to the middle class, identify ideologically with the family leadership and the bourgeoisie, and family values tend to overrule considerations of strictly business interest even among entrepreneurs.

Of all the activities of the most neglected century in English History, England's trade has received the least attention in proportion to its importance. It was obviously in the course of the later Middle Ages, and more particularly in the fifteenth century, that there took place the great transformation from medieval England, isolated and intensely local, to the England of the Tudor and Stuart age, with its world-wide connections and imperial designs. It was during the same period that most of the forms of international trade characteristic of the Middle Ages were replaced by new methods of commercial organization and regulation, national in scope and at times definitely nationalistic in object, and that a marked movement towards capitalist methods and principles took place in the sphere of domestic trade. Yet little has been written concerning English trade in this period. First published in 1933, this classic volume goes a long way to fills this gap superbly. There is an abundance of material, and the writers have compiled a statistical analysis of the Enrolled Customs Account from 1377-1482, which provides an essential measure of the nature, volume, and movement of English foreign commerce during the period.

Warsaw. The Jewish Metropolis offers analyses of the cultural, religious, political and intellectual history of Warsaw Jewry, once the leading Jewish metropolis in Europe and the world.

"Blues for America is a scholar's deft survey of everything that happened between the 1920s and the 1990s-depressions, repressions, segregation, and wars-and the resistance that arose to each in turn, related with surprising wit and an amazingly gracious turn of phrase. And by weaving in bits of autobiography, Dowd has given us much more." --Barbara Ehrenreich

First published in 1988, The Crisis of Marxist Ideology in Eastern Europe states that since de-Stalinisation began in Eastern Europe, the 'dead hand' of institutional Marxism has been eroded by revisionist Marxism, with the turn to young Marx and the philosophy of human emancipation to undermine prevailing orthodoxies. But this revisionism clung to the old socialist dogmas and refused a total break with the system, and the effort eventually failed. The result was the emergence of a dissident counterculture rejecting the system entirely. Independent social movements (such as unofficial peace groups and trade unions like Solidarity) have given this counterculture a major role in Eastern Europe, whilst the ruling elites have responded with confusion. Tismaneanu concludes that the only hope for the anti-totalitarian intellectuals of Eastern Europe is to oppose the regimes with non-Marxist ideas - otherwise they will be permanently reduced to the status of a hopeless, albeit heroic minority. This book will be of interest to students of economics, political science and international relations.

This collection of essays covers economic issues of the Middle East during both the 19th and 20th centuries. The topics included in the book range from the economics of the export of Turkish labour to Western Europe to the economy of Central Asia and the study of coalminers in Eregli.