Beckert uses the developments of the cotton industry - from small scale production based in the Ottoman Empire and India disseminated through trade networks to slavery and colonialism-fueled mechanized production to the modern industry - to examine the evolution of state power and capital-driven private industry through the centuries. The bulk of this book focuses on the period immediately prior to the industrial revolution until the end of 1800s, and for good reason - this was arguably one of the most important eras in history through the lens of industrial and political realignment. Beckert illustrates how modern supply chains, futures markets, and waged labor all emerged from this turbulent period, as well as how many of the inequities that were imposed on different groups and regions are a direct result of the relentless push of states and industrialists to extract ever more value out of this fantastically profitable enterprise.

I particularly liked how this book combines history with a statistical accounting of changes over time, providing a much more concrete sense of the scale of economic and political changes the world over. This book could certainly be longer - the modern clothing and cotton industry is scarcely examined - but given that this work is concerned with many more unique innovations of business and politics (and the modern clothing industry is probably more similar today to a number of other large scale manufacturing industries than it was in the past) that's a reasonable tradeoff.

Overall, this book is a must read if you're at all interested in global economic history. Highly recommend