This monograph puts a focus on the fundamental role of timber, in the European industrialization process. This ties into analyzing the early stages of globalization, which often solely revolves around the flow of capital. While this is also discussed in this book, the author paints a more complex picture of international trade, and particularly the relationships between the countries producing commodities and the consumer countries.

Throughout the chapters, readers will get an understanding of the organization behind the timber value chain from the forests of Central Eastern Europe, the main Scandinavian countries, and Russia, to the main consumer markets in Western Europe. The examined time frame is between the end of the 17th century and World War 2. During that time, a fascinating nexus of economic, technological, and financial structures evolved, that tied the forests' areas to the consumption centres - with the help of Baltic merchants.

It is a fascinating story that ties together historical information for readers interested in economic history and traditional use of forest products.

Autorentext

Luciano Segreto is a Full Professor of Economic History at the University of Florence, He teaches also at the Bocconi University in Milan, the Gdansk University of Technology, and the Warsaw branch of the College of Europe. He has been teaching in several other European and Chinese universities.

His research fields are the history of big family capitalism, the world economy after the end of the Cold War, the international trade of commodities in the 19th and 20th centuries, banking history, and corporate governance in historical perspective.

Among his most recent publications Mutual Attraction: Siemens Activities. in. Italy. 1855-1968, in Multinational Enterprise, Political Risk and Organisational Change: From Total War to Cold War, edited by Neil Forbes, Takafumi Kurosawa and Ben Wubs, Routledge, New York 2019; Esportare la corporate governance nel mondo. Milan, Egea 2022; International timber trade, merchants, and the business organization of the sector: The role of Danzig and the southern ports of the Baltic Sea (1823-1913), in "Business History", Published online: 18 Jul 2023.