From Silk to Silicon: The Story of Globalization Through Ten Extraordinary Lives

Jeffrey E. Garten

Mar 2017 · HarperCollins

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Stories of ten historical figures who helped build the long road to globalization, from Genghis Khan to an Intel CEO: “Filled with brilliant vignettes.” —The Washington Post

This is the story of globalization, the most powerful force in history, as told through the lives and times of ten people who established new connections between people and nations—whether that was their primary goal or not. Rather than focusing on trends, policies, or particular industries, From Silk to Silicon views the topic of globalization for the first time through the lens of individuals and their transformative actions. It tells us who these men and women were, what they did, how they did it, and how their achievements continue to shape our world today.

You’ll read about Genghis Khan, who united east and west by conquest and by opening new trade routes built on groundbreaking transportation, communications, and management innovations; Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who escaped the ghetto and ushered in an era of global finance; Cyrus Field, who led the effort to build the transatlantic telegraph; Margaret Thatcher, whose controversial policies opened the gusher of substantially free markets that linked economies across borders; Andy Grove, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who, at Intel, laid the foundation for Silicon Valley’s computer revolution; and more.

Economist Jeffrey E. Garten finds the common links between these figures and probes critical questions including: How much influence can any one person have in fundamentally changing the world? How have past trends in globalization affected the present? And how will they shape the future?

“Fascinating and illuminating.” —Fareed Zakaria, author of Age of Revolutions

“Garten has brilliantly updated Thomas Carlyle’s Great Man theory of history . . . A tour de force, imaginative, informative and just plain fun to read.” —Strobe Talbott, former Deputy Secretary of State

“A terrific book on globalization . . . really compelling.” —Thomas L. Friedman, author of The World is Flat

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Jeffrey E. Garten teaches courses on the global economy at the Yale School of Management, where he was formerly the dean. He has held senior positions in the Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Clinton administrations, and was a managing director of Lehman Brothers and the Blackstone Group on Wall Street. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, BusinessWeek, and the Harvard Business Review, and he is the author of four previous books on global economics and politics.