A galaxy of distinguished international economists and historians pit economic history against the shaky assumptions of the classical economic theory of natural growth. Their explanations consider the factors of technology, entrepreneurialism, and paths to economic growth, but each reflects an ideological wave of explanation that has marked the last two hundred years.

Patrice Higonnet is Robert Walton Goelet Professor of French History, Harvard University.

David S. Landes is Coolidge Professor of History and Professor of Economics, Emeritus, Harvard University, and the author of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations.

Henry Rosovsky is Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University.

Read More by Patrice Higonnet:

• Goodness beyond Virtue: Jacobins during the French Revolution
• Sister Republics: The Origin of French and American Republicanism
• Pont-de-Montvert: Social Structure and Politics in a French Village
• Paris: Capital of the World

Read More by David S. Landes:

• Revolution in Time: Clocks and the Making of the Modern World, Revised and Enlarged Edition