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The Anxious Triumph: A Global History of Capitalism, 1860-1914
The long-awaited magnum opus of one of Britain's most wide-ranging historians
Capitalist enterprise has existed in some form since ancient times, but the globalization and dominance of capitalism as a system began in the 1860s when, in different forms and supported by different political forces, states all over the world developed their modern political the unifications of Italy and Germany, the establishment of a republic in France, the elimination of slavery in the American south, the Meiji Restoration in Japan, the emancipation of the serfs in Tsarist Russia. This book magnificently explores how, after the upheavals of industrialisation, a truly global capitalism followed. For the first time in the history of humanity, there was a social system able to provide a high level of consumption for the majority of those who lived within its bounds. Today, capitalism dominates the world. With wide-ranging scholarship, Donald Sassoon analyses the impact of capitalism on the histories of many different states, and how it creates winners and losers by constantly innovating. This chronic instability, he writes, 'is the foundation of its advance, not a fault in the system or an incidental by-product'. And it is this instability, this constant churn, which produces the anxious triumph of his title. To control or alleviate such anxieties it was necessary to create a national community, if necessary with colonial adventures, to develop a welfare state, to intervene in the market economy, and to protect it from foreign competition. Capitalists needed a state to discipline them, to nurture them, and to sacrifice a few to save the a state overseeing the war of all against all. Vigorous, argumentative, surprising and constantly stimulating, The Anxious Triumph gives a fresh perspective on all these questions and on its era. It is a masterpiece by one of Britain's most engaging and wide-ranging historians.
Capitalist enterprise has existed in some form since ancient times, but the globalization and dominance of capitalism as a system began in the 1860s when, in different forms and supported by different political forces, states all over the world developed their modern political the unifications of Italy and Germany, the establishment of a republic in France, the elimination of slavery in the American south, the Meiji Restoration in Japan, the emancipation of the serfs in Tsarist Russia. This book magnificently explores how, after the upheavals of industrialisation, a truly global capitalism followed. For the first time in the history of humanity, there was a social system able to provide a high level of consumption for the majority of those who lived within its bounds. Today, capitalism dominates the world. With wide-ranging scholarship, Donald Sassoon analyses the impact of capitalism on the histories of many different states, and how it creates winners and losers by constantly innovating. This chronic instability, he writes, 'is the foundation of its advance, not a fault in the system or an incidental by-product'. And it is this instability, this constant churn, which produces the anxious triumph of his title. To control or alleviate such anxieties it was necessary to create a national community, if necessary with colonial adventures, to develop a welfare state, to intervene in the market economy, and to protect it from foreign competition. Capitalists needed a state to discipline them, to nurture them, and to sacrifice a few to save the a state overseeing the war of all against all. Vigorous, argumentative, surprising and constantly stimulating, The Anxious Triumph gives a fresh perspective on all these questions and on its era. It is a masterpiece by one of Britain's most engaging and wide-ranging historians.
800 pages, Hardcover
Published June 27, 2019
38 people are currently reading
617 people want to read
About the author
Donald Sassoon
31 books22 followersDonald Sassoon is Emeritus Professor of Comparative European History at Queen Mary, University of London.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 8, 2025
Detailed, well-researched and refreshingly unbiased history of capitalism which covers not only the expected protagonists (UK, USA, Western Europe, Russia) in the vanguard of industrialisation, but also dedicates quite some attention to South America, Japan and China, and has some interesting observations about unlikely countries such as Romania and Egypt. (As a Belgian, it was remarkable to read how far ahead my country was; at one point, Belgium was one of the richest countries in the world (pro capita) and the most industrialised in the world second to only the UK.)
The book spreads out thematically as well. Rather than narrowly focusing on an abstract economic history, the emergence of modern capitalism is put in context of (or shown in interaction with) different political and sociological trends in what other historians would refer to as “the long nineteenth century” (roughly from the American Revolution to the end of World War I): How did capitalism relate to the development of nation-states? (A question which leads to insights into the more fundamental issue of government intervention in the economy – and the debunking of some popular myths about it.) How did the gradual expansion of the suffrage (i.e. of democracy) play a role in a capitalist society? How did colonialism affect the development of capitalism and the colonized world?
The balanced approach to all these questions and issues very much appealed to me, because after all the topic of capitalism remains a controversial one and could easily lead to rather opinionated writing. This is definitely not the case with this book. So whatever your opinions are, I bet you will not be offended by it. Instead, you will be thoroughly informed.
The book spreads out thematically as well. Rather than narrowly focusing on an abstract economic history, the emergence of modern capitalism is put in context of (or shown in interaction with) different political and sociological trends in what other historians would refer to as “the long nineteenth century” (roughly from the American Revolution to the end of World War I): How did capitalism relate to the development of nation-states? (A question which leads to insights into the more fundamental issue of government intervention in the economy – and the debunking of some popular myths about it.) How did the gradual expansion of the suffrage (i.e. of democracy) play a role in a capitalist society? How did colonialism affect the development of capitalism and the colonized world?
The balanced approach to all these questions and issues very much appealed to me, because after all the topic of capitalism remains a controversial one and could easily lead to rather opinionated writing. This is definitely not the case with this book. So whatever your opinions are, I bet you will not be offended by it. Instead, you will be thoroughly informed.
September 20, 2020
This is something I read during the covid-19 lockdown, a brilliant book, focused, well-written, a single thesis seen through subtly but convincingly from start to finish. Well conceived and constructed. One of the best histories I've read in my life. It's like reading an overview of what this scholar has spent his life teaching; "here's my takeaway of what I've learned from what I've studied over my career". Well written, well argued. Thanks to the Financial Times reviewer who recommended this book; it was something special to read.
October 21, 2021
Superficialotto, nomina molti fenomeni e personaggi ma non ne approfondisce nessuno. Tuttavia firmerei col sangue se anche gli altri due libri di storia contemporanea fossero così brevi
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July 28, 2020Predicting an anxious future
The author treats the reader to a rich selection of historic facts and factoids, which sometimes amuse, but eventually become tiresome. It all contributes to the main hypothesis that late-19th century dynamic capitalism caused unprecedented anxieties, indeed that present-day capitalist development in China and possibly India will cause further fears for a liveable environment and food security.
This hypothesis is unconvincing, because the author does not establish that the level of anxieties (however defined or measured) in static earlier ages was less. What about existential fears of disease, starvation, banditry, lawlessness etc. in pre-industrial times (which the author only mentions in passing)?
In reality, people in wealthy, maturely capitalist societies live longer, healthier, safer and more interesting lives. These facts are widely documented, see Julian Simon, Peter Ridley or Hans Rosling, among many others. In reality, at least half of mankind enjoy and welcome change and novelty; otherwise it wouldn’t happen! Sassoon repeats the errors of Charles Dickens: judging the decisions of desperately poor people who left the miseries of rural life for the poverty in the industrial cities, from the standpoint of comfort and wealth a few generations later.
Speaking for myself, I have taken a good look at the poor in Rio’s favelas and Indian slums to know that these refugees from even worse rural poverty acted rationally and are full of hope.
Sassoon would benefit of a little understanding of the economic growth theory (for example Joseph Schumpeter), but that would require him to first take off the distorting glasses of Marxism, which totally underrates the power of human ingenuity and creativity.
The author treats the reader to a rich selection of historic facts and factoids, which sometimes amuse, but eventually become tiresome. It all contributes to the main hypothesis that late-19th century dynamic capitalism caused unprecedented anxieties, indeed that present-day capitalist development in China and possibly India will cause further fears for a liveable environment and food security.
This hypothesis is unconvincing, because the author does not establish that the level of anxieties (however defined or measured) in static earlier ages was less. What about existential fears of disease, starvation, banditry, lawlessness etc. in pre-industrial times (which the author only mentions in passing)?
In reality, people in wealthy, maturely capitalist societies live longer, healthier, safer and more interesting lives. These facts are widely documented, see Julian Simon, Peter Ridley or Hans Rosling, among many others. In reality, at least half of mankind enjoy and welcome change and novelty; otherwise it wouldn’t happen! Sassoon repeats the errors of Charles Dickens: judging the decisions of desperately poor people who left the miseries of rural life for the poverty in the industrial cities, from the standpoint of comfort and wealth a few generations later.
Speaking for myself, I have taken a good look at the poor in Rio’s favelas and Indian slums to know that these refugees from even worse rural poverty acted rationally and are full of hope.
Sassoon would benefit of a little understanding of the economic growth theory (for example Joseph Schumpeter), but that would require him to first take off the distorting glasses of Marxism, which totally underrates the power of human ingenuity and creativity.
April 11, 2022
"Il trionfo ansioso. Storia globale del capitalismo dal 1860 al 1914" può essere considerato a tutti gli effetti una guida, approfondita e totalitaria, sulla nascita del moderno capitalismo, ossia di quella forma di mercato, costituita dal libero scambio delle merci e da poche regolamentazioni statali, che governa le economie mondiali moderne.
Affasciante ed entusiasmante è l'approccio che l'autore adotta nell'analisi di ogni singola nazione: dalla condizione socioeconomica antecedente l'avvento del capitalismo sino alla corsa alla modernizzazione, maggiormente riuscita in alcuni paesi (come il Giappone) o quasi per nulla avviata come in Russia. Ogni nazione ha perseguito, quasi sempre, una strada unica.
"Il trionfo ansioso" istruisce, educa sulle questioni economiche, politiche e sociali del passato e, facendo ciò, offre un'intelligente e chiara chiave di lettura per l'interpretazione del difficile e complesso presente -economico e non solo- nel quale stiamo vivendo.
E’ una lettura essenziale e necessaria perché da essa s'impara leggendo. E' un'incredibile fonte di informazioni sulla nascita dei moderni stati mondiali e sul sistema economico sul quale si fondano i nostri attuali stili di vita, il nostro benessere e dal quale dipenderà il nostro prossimo futuro.
Potete leggere la recensione completa sul blog (link in bio).
Affasciante ed entusiasmante è l'approccio che l'autore adotta nell'analisi di ogni singola nazione: dalla condizione socioeconomica antecedente l'avvento del capitalismo sino alla corsa alla modernizzazione, maggiormente riuscita in alcuni paesi (come il Giappone) o quasi per nulla avviata come in Russia. Ogni nazione ha perseguito, quasi sempre, una strada unica.
"Il trionfo ansioso" istruisce, educa sulle questioni economiche, politiche e sociali del passato e, facendo ciò, offre un'intelligente e chiara chiave di lettura per l'interpretazione del difficile e complesso presente -economico e non solo- nel quale stiamo vivendo.
E’ una lettura essenziale e necessaria perché da essa s'impara leggendo. E' un'incredibile fonte di informazioni sulla nascita dei moderni stati mondiali e sul sistema economico sul quale si fondano i nostri attuali stili di vita, il nostro benessere e dal quale dipenderà il nostro prossimo futuro.
Potete leggere la recensione completa sul blog (link in bio).
May 24, 2023
Donald Sassoon's book is an excellent counterpart to Eric Hobsbawm's Age of Empire, which covers the same period. The latter is very eurocentric - I think he only devotes a paragraph to all the British famines in India - though many of his arguments remain persuasive. This book bolsters Hobsbawm's arguments by providing a ton of examples from what Sassoon still calls, like your aging parents, the "Third World."
If you pair the two, you'll have an excellent grasp of the last half of the 19th century. You might ask why you should bother. Fair question.
The years 1860 to 1914 were the pressure cooker in which our own awful era was made. It saw the birth of a global market, and with it, frantic competition among nations as they realized that their power depended on a strong, industrialized - and that meant capitalist - economy; and a strong, capitalist economy necessitated an empire, or at least that was the belief. This struggle for global dominance led to the First World War.
Ever since, the nations of the world have been trying to figure out a system of global capitalist governance that won't eventually explode in a massive war. Things haven't looked so great in that department lately. I'm hoping the guys in charge figure something out soon.
If you pair the two, you'll have an excellent grasp of the last half of the 19th century. You might ask why you should bother. Fair question.
The years 1860 to 1914 were the pressure cooker in which our own awful era was made. It saw the birth of a global market, and with it, frantic competition among nations as they realized that their power depended on a strong, industrialized - and that meant capitalist - economy; and a strong, capitalist economy necessitated an empire, or at least that was the belief. This struggle for global dominance led to the First World War.
Ever since, the nations of the world have been trying to figure out a system of global capitalist governance that won't eventually explode in a massive war. Things haven't looked so great in that department lately. I'm hoping the guys in charge figure something out soon.
January 27, 2020
The concise explanation about working of capitalism. Since my country used to be socialist, we tend to dismiss capitalism. But now, capitalism is good since it enhanced the standard living of people. I want to recommend this book to my friends who embraces communism.
December 15, 2020
Fascinating overview over the start of global capitalism, full of great details and with a clear view that the state played an important role - it's not all up to the markets.
September 3, 2021
Not what I thought it would be but better than I hoped in parts.
January 23, 2022
History of the rise of capitalism in the late 19th/early 20th century. Particularly interesting for taking a global view rather than just looking at the west.
July 4, 2024
Ben scritto, ben argomentato. Lettura molto impegnativa
October 29, 2021
Il testo offre molti spunti di riflessione, rimane però sempre sulla superficie degli avvenimenti, non indagandone le cause profonde e semplificandoli molto. L’intervista all’autore è datata (2019), ironica la fine dell’ultimo capitolo.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews