OUR LONG WALK TO ECONOMIC FREEDOM, lessons from 100 000 years of human history

255pp., maps, paperback, Cape Town, 2021

" In this deeply thoughtful but broadly accessible tour of global economic history from the time of our savanna-roaming ancestors to the pandemic, Fourie distils the essence of a vast body of recent economic history research into teachable nuggets that raise as many questions as they answer. The African focus of his presentation will be instructive to many, and the prose delightfully engaging for all. His commitment to understanding the historical roots of prosperity and ensuring its wide distribution in the future makes this also one of the most humane economic histories I have read." Anne McCants, Professor of History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and President of the International Economic History Association

"This is the first book to bring Africa in from the margins and place it centrally into the big narratives of world economic history. The subject will never be the same again." James Robinson, co-author of Why Nations Fail

Johan Fourie is Professor of Economic History at Stellenbosch University. He is a founding member of the African Economic History Network and President of the Economic History Society of Southern Africa.