From Silk to Silicon summary

Prince Henry of Portugal, also known as The Navigator, lived from 1394 to 1460, during which time he spread European knowledge around the globe. To do so, he pushed his captains to sail far beyond the limits of contemporary maps, eventually discovering new fortunes and lands.

But exploring the uncharted regions of the world wasn’t all he did. As a younger man, Prince Henry dabbled in warfare, albeit with mixed results.

To this day, the British East India Company evokes an image of tremendous power and, during its heyday, it was so important that it was known simply as The Company. This international trade powerhouse once employed tens of thousands of British as well as Indian citizens and, while many people contributed to its meteoric rise, no one played as active a role as Sir Robert Clive.

While most people know of India as a former British colony, that only happened after a long struggle between French, Indian and British forces. In the 1740s, as these events were unfolding, Robert Clive was living a tumultuous life in England, burdened by depression and a disapproving father.

While banking giants and international finance organizations like the International Monetary Fund now span the globe, there’s never been a bank in history that rivaled the power of the Rothschild Bank. It was one of the first international banking empires, and it had a tremendous impact on the development of global finance.

Founded in the mid-eighteenth century by Mayer Amschel Rothschild of Frankfurt, this once humble banking business developed into the largest financial company of its time. Rothschild's family went on to run a variety of businesses and fund everything from the Napoleonic wars to the construction of railways and modern roads.

There are few names so intimately tied to wealth as that of John D. Rockefeller, and that’s no coincidence. Rockefeller was both a ruthless businessman and a great philanthropist. His company, Standard Oil, essentially controlled the entire US oil market and was well ahead of its time in terms of its treatment of workers.

For instance, employees were encouraged to make time for both business and family, rather than spending every waking moment working for Standard Oil. But the company wasn’t all cookies and cream. In fact, Standard Oil forced the majority of its rivals out of the market and had to be broken up by the US government, which feared the oil giant’s sheer power.

When it comes to British politics, there’s probably no woman quite as controversial as Margaret Thatcher, also known as the Iron Lady. She served as Britain’s first female prime minister, from 1979 until 1990.

So, why is public opinion about Thatcher so divided?

Nowadays, if you buy anything from a plastic toy to a flat-screen TV, there’s a good chance it was manufactured in China. But this wasn’t always the case. So how did China become the manufacturing powerhouse it is today?

It all began with Deng Xiaoping, a Chinese politician who transformed his country into a modern global player.