The classic work - recommended by six Nobel laureates in Economics, a must-read book!

Why are some countries rich and others poor?

Top economist Daron Acemoglu and Harvard political scientist James Robinson provide a compelling and striking answer to this fundamental question. Using numerous fascinating case studies - from the conquistadors to the Industrial Revolution and modern-day China, from Sierra Leone to Colombia - they show how elites use oppressive institutions to manipulate rules to their advantage, at the expense of many. A captivating and engaging argument that history and geography are not our fate.

A convincing proof that the right analysis of the past opens new ways of understanding the present situation and new prospects for the future. A challenging, brilliant, and unique book.

"This book will still be read by our great-grandchildren two hundred years from now." George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics

"An absolutely convincing study."

Gary S. Becker, Nobel Laureate in Economics

"A truly significant book."

Michael Spence, Nobel Laureate in Economics

"Acemoglu and Robinson inspire and provoke thought."

Robert Solow, Nobel Laureate in Economics

"An important, necessary work."

Peter Diamond, Nobel Laureate in Economics

"An important contribution to the discussion of why state entities with the same conditions differ so significantly in economic and political development."

Kenneth J. Arrow, Nobel Laureate in Economics

"This fact-rich and encouraging polemic teaches us that history can have a happy ending when no human is used as a guinea pig anymore."

Michael Holmes, NZZ am Sonntag

"Fifteen years of work by a team of scientists, summarized in 600 pages by two world-renowned researchers, and this is the result: a love letter to institutions that work for the benefit of their citizens. [...] Mesmerizing."

Elisabeth von Thadden, Die Zeit

"You will be excited by this book."

Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of the global bestsellers "Collapse" and "Guns, Germs, and Steel"

"A highly recommended book."

Francis Fukuyama, author of the bestseller "The End of History"

"A fantastic book. Acemoglu and Robinson tackle the most important problem in the social sciences — a question that has puzzled leading thinkers for centuries — and offer an answer brilliant in its simplicity and power. A wonderfully readable blend of history, political science, and economics that will change the way we think. A must-read."

Steven Levitt, author of "Freakonomics"