01/11/2016
In this wide-ranging book, Garten (The Politics of Fortune), former dean of the Yale School of Management, identifies 10 transformational individuals who laid the foundation for modern globalization. He begins with Genghis Khan, who conquered and united the vast Mongol Empire, and moves chronologically as he profiles Prince Henry of Portugal, whose fearless naval expeditions set in motion the Age of Exploration; Robert Clive, the merchant-soldier who laid the basis for the British Empire; Mayer Amschel Rothschild, whose dealings represented the beginnings of global financial markets; Cyrus Field, layer of the first transatlantic telegraph cable, which set the stage for modern telecommunications; John D. Rockefeller, the businessman whose companies anticipated today’s multinational corporations; Jean Monnet, who coordinated the establishment of the European Union; Margaret Thatcher, the free-market evangelist who linked Britain’s economy with the world’s; Andrew Grove, the manager who made Intel a leader in the microprocessor industry; and Deng Xiaoping, the modernizing Chinese leader whose market reforms brought hundreds of millions of people into the global economy. Garten recognizes each figure’s unique skills and qualities as well as their evils. It’s an unapologetically neoliberal take on history, but Garten is correct that each contribution reverberates in the present. Maps and illus. Agent: James Levine, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency. (Mar.)

Succinct, erudite and entertaining, From Silk to Silicon is a most original account of the genesis of globalization.” — Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, former President of Mexico and Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization

“Garten compellingly recounts how ten individuals helped shape the modern world, reminding us of the possibilities begat by transformative leadership.” — Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, former U. S. Secretary of State

“This is a tale of globalization and leadership that is both sweeping and personal. By focusing on ten transformational people, it shows how individuals can affect the flow of history. It’s a guide to the future as well as to the past.” — Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs, Einstein, and Benjamin Franklin

“Jeffrey Garten has brilliantly updated Thomas Carlyle’s Great Man Theory of History in his gallery of transformative figures, notably including a woman, who have spurred globalization. A tour-de-force–imaginative, informative and just plain fun to read.” — STROBE TALBOTT, president of The Brookings Institution, former U.S. deputy secretary of state, and former editor-at-large, TIME Magazine

Jeffrey Garten has brilliantly updated Thomas Carlyle’s Great Man Theory of History in his gallery of transformative figures, notably including a woman, who have spurred globalization. A tour-de-force–imaginative, informative and just plain fun to read.

Succinct, erudite and entertaining, From Silk to Silicon is a most original account of the genesis of globalization.

This is a tale of globalization and leadership that is both sweeping and personal. By focusing on ten transformational people, it shows how individuals can affect the flow of history. It’s a guide to the future as well as to the past.

Garten compellingly recounts how ten individuals helped shape the modern world, reminding us of the possibilities begat by transformative leadership.

Succinct, erudite and entertaining, From Silk to Silicon is a most original account of the genesis of globalization.

05/01/2016
What do Genghis Khan, Prince Henry the Navigator, Robert Clive, Mayer Rothschild, Cyrus Field, John D. Rockefeller, Jean Monnet, Margaret Thatcher, Andy Grove, and Deng Xiaoping have in common? As presented in Garten's book, these individuals played important roles in bringing the world together through globalization. They did this through imperialism and colonial administration (Khan and Clive), advancements in technology and communications (Prince Henry and Field), finance (Rothschild and Monnet), business (Rockefeller and Grove), and politics (Thatcher and Deng). While emphasizing the positive parts they played in worldwide economic and cultural development, Garten includes discussion of the negative aspects of globalization, providing the listener with a lively introduction to a select group of people who helped shape the modern world. Tom Perkins does an excellent job in telling their stories. VERDICT This thoughtful audiobook is recommended to all listeners interested in economics and world events. ["This highly approachable book, clearly written and intriguing in concept, will be valuable in telling the story of globalization as the relationships between person and theme are well drawn and illuminating": LJ 2/1/16 review of the Harper hc.]—Stephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ. Parkersburg Lib.

02/01/2016
In his latest work, Garten (The Politics of Fortune) takes a unique approach to the thematic study of globalization as an economic, political, and social force. Rather than tracing the product of a garment or the development of a particular industry or nation, the author looks at the overarching themes of the theory of globalization and then uses biographies of principle figures to illustrate each stage. Whether it is Mayer Rothschild embodying the finance trade or Jean Monnet establishing the European Union and paving the way for the creation of a shared currency, each personality fits neatly into Garten's tenets of globalization, which are key factors drawn from his substantial knowledge of global interdependence. Engaging vignettes demonstrate a unique sociopolitical norm while making connections to the larger trends of globalization without losing their relevancy to the narrative as a whole. In sum, the stories serve to highlight the message that it isn't the innovation or the dream that's necessary for global achievement but rather confidence, pragmatism, and the ability to persist that leads to revolutionary and paradigm-shifting individuals. VERDICT This highly approachable book, clearly written and intriguing in concept, will be valuable in telling the story of globalization as the relationships between person and theme are well drawn and illuminating.—Elizabeth Zeitz, Otterbein Univ. Lib., Westerville, OH

History buffs will love the political intrigue and sweeping sagas that fill this engrossing audio. Tom Perkins narrates with unobtrusive consistency, resonating with the drama woven into the narratives and putting to good use his pleasing vocal tone and sensitivity to phrasing. Starting with the thirteenth-century illiterate empire builder Genghis Khan, who created organizational structures that elevated his rowdy warriors by incorporating the skills and cultures of conquered lands, the author profiles leaders throughout the ages whose explorations capitalized on the rich diversity they found in civilizations across the globe. The perspective Garten offers, illustrated with captivating personal narratives, provides a timely reminder not only that all civilizations and cultures have value but that the disruption caused by today’s rapidly shrinking world is not new and is not altogether bad. T.W. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

2016-01-20
Yale economic historian Garten (The Big Ten: The Big Emerging Markets and How They Will Change Our Lives, 1997, etc.) looks at 10 pioneers of the new global economy, from Genghis Khan to Deng Xiaoping. Both Genghis and Deng were inarguably of great importance in opening up the worlds they knew to global, or at least continental, trade. Perhaps more important than Genghis was his descendant Kublai Khan, who built an actual rational economy and the bureaucratic structure to administer it, achievements that, writes Garten, "occurred well after Genghis Khan, but…evolved from his earlier attempts at establishing a multicultural society spanning vast territory." Robert Clive, aka Clive of India, on the other hand, simply found a multicultural society spanning a huge territory and appropriated it for the British crown—one way to open up markets, to be sure, but perhaps not the best model for latter-day capitalists to follow. Without Prince Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese royal who spent money on science and education, Garten writes, the great Age of Exploration would have probably occurred anyway, "but it was Henry who seized the moment." This rather offhand defense points to the central problem of the book: it lacks much explanatory power. The 10 individuals highlighted here, though their contributions were of importance to varying degrees, might just as easily have been replaced by any other 10 leading individuals—e.g., Genghis for Kublai, Andrew Grove for Steve Jobs, and so forth. That objection noted, Garten does well to highlight the different strains of enterprise that have gone into making a global economy, from military intervention to exploration and the innovation of financial and technological systems. He also makes the smart, though arguable, assertion that "globalization has given individuals powerful new avenues to make an impact." Of interest to students of economic history, though less intellectually compelling than David Warsh's Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations (2006) or even Robert Allen's Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction (2011).