Cross-cultural Trade in World History Book

Cross-Cultural Trade in World History, by Philip D Curtin, details how cross-cultural trade affected the evolution cultures around the world throughout history. Philip D Curtin was a historian and professor at John Hopkins University. He specialized in Africa and Atlantic slave trade. In 1983, he was the winner of the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant. He has published over a dozen books including, The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census and On the Fringes of History.
Cross-Cultural Trade in World History has been a fairly successful book. It has earned a 3.4-star customer rating on Goodreads. Readers have said things like “A well laid out overview of trade, with sections that go rather far in depth.”
Curtin begins Cross-Cultural Trade in World History by giving a brief overview of trade diasporas and cross-cultural trade. This section explains the importance trade and exchange across cultural lines throughout history. He then gives an overview of the positive and negative effects of cross-cultural trade. Curtin also talks about the variables that went into cross-cultural trade and cultural development.
The first variable Curtin describes is trade diasporas. He explains that trade diasporas were formed from cross-cultural trade. This happened when merchants travel to other countries to sell their products. This played a major role in the evolution of cultures. The next variable described is merchants and their hosts. He explains how the new trade communities affected the host societies.
After giving an overview of cross-cultural trade, Curtin begins to describe specific regions and the variables that went into the evolution of the culture in that specific region. The first region described is Africa. This section begins by describing their incentives to trade and patterns of competition. Next, he describes how trading in the African deserts differed from trading in the tropical African coasts and how cross-cultural trading affected these two cultures. The last section of the Africa region talks about East Africa and the major influence they had on the evolution of trade networks.
The next section is about Ancient trade. This includes regions like Mesopotamia, Assyria, Anatolia, Egypt, Eastern Mediterranean and Greece. Curtin explains that this is one of the first occurrences of cross-cultural trade in history. At the end of this section, he talks about the fall of Rome, as well as, the rise of Islam and how this influenced the cross-cultural trade in the region.
The next region Curtin describes is Asia. This section begins by describing their trade in the Eastern seas. It also talks about what later became known as the “economic miracle.” It then goes on to describe how the rise of Muslims and Christians influenced trade and the culture. Next, he describes how Asia’s cross-cultural trade with Europe and Portugal influenced the evolution of their culture. This influenced competition within the trade market, as well as, the start of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the English East India Company. Curtin ends this section by detailing the impact of Westernization and European dominance in trade and cultural evolution.
Overall, Curtin does an excellent job explaining how cross-cultural trade influenced cultural evolution throughout history. In the book, Curtin keeps an excellent balance between describing all the different regions and their cultural evolution, as well as, the variables that went into the evolution. For example, when talking about the variables that went into cross-cultural trade in Africa, he explains that this region was one of the last regions in the world to get involved in cross-cultural trade. Curtin states this is because, “Tsetse flies and the trypanosomes they carried made pack animals useless through much of the African tropics, thus impeding long-distance trade. Other diseases, especially falciparum, malaria and yellow fever, were so fatal to humans from other disease environments that Africa remained the continent least known to outsiders.”
Throughout the book, Curtin also uses several examples to help readers better understand the context. This is shown when Curtin is describing how trade diasporas have evolved over time. To give readers a better understanding of trade diasporas he uses the example of the Hanseatic League. To do this he says, “The Hanseatic League, for example, gave up its special trade enclave in London, called the ‘Steelyard.’ It served as the principle point for the distribution. Of English raw wool to the continent, but then it returned to French control.” This gives readers a better understanding of what trade diasporas are and how they affected cultural evolution.
Another method Curtin used to help readers better understand the context is by using illustrations. For example, in the section about Africa there are five maps. These maps include northern Africa, eastern Africa, west central Africa/ lower Congo Basin, lower Niger Basin, and Asante. This helps readers get a better understanding if the region that is being described.
Another example of this is when Curtin is explaining overland trades. In this section, there are maps of the regions with their trade routes. These figures help readers better understand the information that is given.
Even though Curtin does a good job getting the point across, he does not make it very interesting. Throughout the book, he states the facts as they happened, instead of making the events sound exciting. For example, when Curtin is talking trade diasporas he says, “Trade communities of merchants living among aliens in associated networks are to be found on every continent and through time to the very beginning of urban life.” This quote shows Curtin just states facts but doesn’t make vivid descriptions to make the story more interesting.
Overall, Cross-Cultural Trade in World History, by Philip D Curtin, is an excellent book that gives an overview of trading between cultures throughout history and how it affected the cultures we have today. He uses examples, illustrations and maps to help readers better understand what is being said. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in trade and its effects on cultural development.