Thorstein Veblen 
Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution [PDF ebook] 

Thorsten B. Veblen’s book, Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution, published in the second year of the First World War. Although Imperial Germany was begun before the United States entered World War I, little in the book however relates to that particular conflict. Rather, this is in large part a study of the divergencies in cultural development between the English-speaking peoples and the German-speaking peoples, and of the consequences this produced in economic and social spheres. Suppressed by war censors, this text was again released after the war and has assumed a place as a major contribution to economics and sociology alike. This edition is graced with an insightful opening essay that is at once a commentary on Veblen’s volume and a statement of historic status of the German economy and society. The new opening statement underscores the view of those who came before, that Veblen’s book is 'a treasure chest of knowledge’.