The classic - recommended by six Nobel laureates in Economics, a must-read! Why are nations rich or poor? Leading economist Daron Acemoglu and Harvard political scientist James Robinson provide a compelling and impressive answer to this fundamental question. Using numerous fascinating case studies—from the Conquistadors to the Industrial Revolution to present-day China, from Sierra Leone to Colombia—they show how elites use repressive institutions to manipulate all the rules in their favor, to the detriment of many individuals. A thrilling and captivating plea that history and geography are not destiny. And a convincing example that the right analysis of the past opens new ways to understand our present and new perspectives for the future. A provocative, brilliant, and unique book.

"This book will still be read by our great-great-great-grandchildren two hundred years from now." George Akerlof, Nobel Prize winner in Economics

"An absolutely convincing study." Gary S. Becker, Nobel Prize winner in Economics

"A truly important book." Michael Spence, Nobel Prize winner in Economics

"Acemoglu and Robinson inspire and provoke thought." Robert Solow, Nobel Prize winner in Economics

"An important, indispensable work." Peter Diamond, Nobel Prize winner in Economics

"An important contribution to the debate on why states with the same conditions differ so significantly in economic and political development." Kenneth J. Arrow, Nobel Prize winner in Economics

"This fact-rich and encouraging polemic teaches us that history can have a happy ending when no human is used as a test subject anymore." Michael Holmes, NZZ am Sonntag

"One and a half decades of work by a pool of scientists, summarized in 600 pages by two world-class researchers, and this is the result: a love letter to institutions that work in the interest of their citizens. [...] compelling." Elisabeth von Thadden, Die Zeit

"You will be thrilled by this book." Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of the worldwide bestsellers "Collapse" and "Guns, Germs, and Steel"

"A highly recommended book." Francis Fukuyama, author of the bestseller "The End of History"

"A fantastic book. Acemoglu and Robinson tackle the most important problem in the social sciences—a question that has puzzled leading thinkers for centuries—and deliver an answer brilliant in its simplicity and power. A wonderfully readable blend of history, political science, and economics that will change the way we think. A must-read." Steven Levitt, author of "Freakonomics"