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Empire of Things

How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First

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Empire of Things

By: Frank Trentmann
Narrated by: Mark Meadows
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About this listen

What we consume has become the defining feature of our lives: our economies live or die by spending, we are treated more as consumers than workers and even public services are presented to us as products in a supermarket.

In this monumental study, acclaimed historian Frank Trentmann unfolds the extraordinary history that has shaped our material world, from late Ming China, Renaissance Italy and the British Empire to the present. Astonishingly wide ranging and richly detailed, Empire of Things explores how we have come to live with so much more, how this changed the course of history and the global challenges we face as a result.

Frank Trentmann is a professor of history at Birkbeck College, University of London, and directed the £5 million Cultures of Consumption research programme. His last book, Free Trade Nation, won the Whitfield Prize for outstanding historical scholarship and achievement from the Royal Historical Society. He was educated at Hamburg University, the LSE and Harvard, where he received his PhD. In 2014 he was Moore Distinguished Fellow at Caltech.

©2016 Frank Trentmann (P)2016 Audible, Ltd World Imperialism Export Economic inequality Social Movement Colonial Period Sustainability Economic disparity US Economy Ancient History Self-Determination Interwar Period

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Critic reviews

" Empire of Things is a masterpiece of historical research... a delight to read...this book consistently entertains while it informs. In contrast to so many historians, Trentmann has the ability to write for the multitude without compromising on intellectual rigour." ( The Times)
" Empire of Things is something to behold; a compelling account of consumerism that revels in its staggering breadth and depth. Frank Trentmann has written a necessary and important book about one of the defining characteristics of our times." (Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana, winner of the Whitbread Prize; and A World on Fire)
" Empire of Things is an extraordinary, Braudelian achievement. It is impossible to imagine that any one person would be able to do a better job than Frank Trentmann." (John Brewer, author of The Pleasures of the Imagination, winner of the Wolfson History Prize)
All stars
Most relevant  
Huge volume of material left me speechless. The depth of factual information and sheer amount of it makes this an extravaganza of knowledge!

massive in depth discourse

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I enjoyed every second of this book. Informative, insightful, comprehensively researched and thought provoking. The narration was consistently clear, well paced and a pleasure to listen to. I wish this had been around 20 years when I was a social sciences student. I'd have been inspired to pick a much better topic for my dissertation.
Would definitely purchase another of Mr Trentmann's offerings, and I insist that all future recordings are read by Mr Meadows!

Excellent!

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The historical impact on todays consuming patterns is exquisitely laid bare and this is a book for anyone attempting politically or environmentally to give impact on todays consumerism.

Would be a good read/listening for any consumer

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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I wouldn't. There are much better books on the subject.

Was Empire of Things worth the listening time?

No, I quit half way through.

Any additional comments?

Get Geoffrey Miller's Spent instead. Much better, more interesting, deeper and better written too.

Disappointing and shallow

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well argued view of economic history from the perspective of consumption and the consumer not production. questions some accepted norms

alternative view

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A wonderfully informative and scary book that explodes many modern myths about the society in which we live. A history designed to focus the debate where it needs to be, on our own collective behaviour.

essential reading

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This book brings together both the history of consumerism and its many contemporary issues, from desire and need to raw materials and supply chain to recycling and disposal.
A must-read if you consume - which of course we all do.
Recommended

Very informative - A must-read.

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Loved learning about how things and number of things have been a concern since Roman times.

Very pleased I listened to it

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This is a long book, that's a good thing. Each chapter introduces a series of stories about stuff that I knew little or nothing about. Entertaining in themselves, each chapter had me saying to myself, 'Wow, I never thought of it like that.' Overall they build into a connected whole but you don't have to keep it all in your head to enjoy it. The author doesn't preach or politic.

Mark Meadows' voice is so soothing I often fell asleep listening. He's not boring at all, he just carries me away on the words. Sleep timer means I just skip back ten minutes the next morning and all is well. I find only the best readers have this effect. (Mr Meadows needs to read more novels please, not just crime & thrillers.)

Fascinating listen, good dipper

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Some audiobooks are for devouring. This is not one of those. Nor is it one you can easily skim. What it is though is fascinating- an entirely different and incredibly comprehensive approach to looking at how people have looked at possessions and the things they consume across the Globe over the past several centuries.

It’s taken me 8 weeks of listening to get through it and it does have its frustrations. It goes through time in themed sections so it can be easy to get lost a little (I found a 60 second rewind on each return useful) and also its most up to date data is/are (depending on your taste) from around 2012- and a lot has gone down globally and nationally in the U.K. since then.

It is genuinely interesting though- and certainly food for thought as we contemplate the new normal.

I am glad I stuck with it.

Not a light undertaking, but a worthwhile one

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