Introducing Capitalism: A Graphic Guide

Introducing Graphic Guides

by Dan Cryan, Sharron Shatil

Capitalism now dominates the globe, both in economics and ideology, shapes every aspect of our world and influences everything from laws, wars and government to interpersonal relationships. "Introducing Capitalism" tells the story of its remarkable and often ruthless rise, evolving through strife and struggle as much as innovation and enterprise. Tracing capitalism from its beginning to the present day, Dan Cryan and Sharron Shatil, alongside Piero's brilliant graphics, look at its practical and theoretical impact. They cover the major economic, social and political developments that shaped the world we live in, such as the rise of banking, the founding of America and the Opium Wars.This book explores the leading views for and against, including thinkers like Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Theodor Adorno and Milton Friedman, together with the connections between them and their historical context. Capitalism has influenced everything in the 21st-century world. For anyone who wants to gain a broad understanding of this fascinating subject, this book cuts across narrow academic lines to analyse an all-encompassing feature of modern life.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, History, Philosophy, Politics, Comics, Graphic Novels

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2010

Reviews

[Craig Maxwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good knowledge but the design, layout and illustrations leave something to be desired...

[Thomas Margot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little book that goes over the practical and philosophical history of capitalism. Interesting and fun with the illustrations, but still deep enough to be useful. The book gives a good overview of different philosophies related to modern-day capitalism and can be used as a starting point for further research.

[Castles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned some new things (Islamic capitalism) and didn’t like the summery of the Frankfurt school which was definitely insufficient.

[Alexandru · Rating 4 out of 5]

A basic history of capitalism.

[Evelyn and Roberto Carrasquillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Short Read

This book is good short read and high level overview on capitalism. From its origin until modern times. The graphics aided in understanding the content.

[Alexis Chateau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye-opening, but needs some work

I read Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams as part of my college studies and thought I had seen about as much on capitalism as I cared to know. However, the recent economy piqued my interest again. This book introduced new information I hadn't encountered before (or perhaps forgot) and has really influenced the way I view the economy and government intervention. That said, the book could use some formatting help. I had one paragraph per page showing on my tablet. Additionally, there were way too many run-on sentences that a good editor should have caught and changed.

[Madhur Ahuja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly history of capitalism

[Hina · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better Introducing books graphic guides. The book touches upon all the major thinkers and philosophers to advance capitalistic theory, as well as their critics. An excellent resource for a general overview of capitalism's past, present, and future (which honestly doesn't seem to be too bright. We might just be towards the tail end of history, which is a very scary thought in my opinion.) I'm going to be thinking about what I've read in this book for some time to come. I'll just end this review with one of the quotes in the book from Herbert Marcuse:

"Mass media is really a tool for constructing people's consciousness on a mass scale. It makes it possible to broadcast the same information to millions at once. So the way the masses think and behave can be dictated to a considerable extent by those who control the media. People are practically told how to think, and are programmed to keep the technological machine running."

[Inder Suri · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can't change/improve the system if you don't understand it.


You can love capitalism, you can hate capitalism, but you definitely can not ignore 'Capitalism.'
It is one of the most successful and also the most controversial ideas ever. It has such a huge impact on our everyday lives that you just can't disregard it.

This book provides a succinct and excellent explanation of such a controversial idea. I personally find these 'Introducing Graphic guides' series really awesome and useful. You can learn so much. If you think the information provided in this short little book is not enough, the 'Further Reading' section will surely help.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much more informative book than I had expected! I didn't understand all of it, but it was definitely a valuable introduction to capitalism. The balance between introducing concepts and informative level of detail is well grasped, I think--one is given enough detail to make the concepts meaningful but not too much that it's incomprehensible.

[Philip Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid base to start from

A brief history, that provides a useful insight to the history of the subject. The reader is invited to delve deeper into the various areas, and the further reading list is particularly useful in this regard. I read the kindle version so, a good experience for me.

[Abi Sangarab · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started to read this series of books because these books contains lots of useful information about each topic. I am really satisfied by the book. However, the author could concenterate on more details of Islamic Capitalism. They provide just two pages.
Strongly recommended.

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit liberal leaning considering it's talking about Capitalism.

However, the first part of the book gives some very interesting info on how the first bank systems were created (the Templar knights.) Plus I learned a little more about Marx, and Fukuyama is pretty cool.

[ahmad zaid · Rating 3 out of 5]

A review of Capitalism (as seen by Orientalist, Western, clash of ideas-centric thinking pretending to be neutral): A Graphic Guide

Writing a Guide to Capitalism should start with the question: how do you describe to other fish the water we all swim in?

This book doesn’t really do that. The lack of preface or introduction means you just have to guess about the authors’ backgrounds and intentions (a red flag imo) so my guess is that they put capitalism firmly in the realm of “ideas”. Ideas are had and contributed to by people over time, and so that’s what the whole book is.

But the pretence that this walkabout through minds & history is neutral is the problem. A simple decision illustrates this: where do you start your journey through history of capitalism from?

Authors chose “capitalism vs feudalism” in Middle Age Europe, where it then spread through the world “like wildfire”. Okay…but on the same page (p5) a cartoon monk says: “ancient trade routes and much of the sea was taken over by the Muslim kingdoms and europe was getting out of the dark ages”.

If trade routes were “taken over” by the Muslims, weren’t they capitalism-ing way better then??

But the rest of the book is Western thought staring into itself, and you’ll have to wait until 3 pages to the end where “Islamic Capitalism” gets two pages to show how despite a “dim view” of interest, banks still figure out how to make money.

Choosing a Quran verse that just says riba’ has “no increase with Allah” instead of THE verse that says Allah and His Messenger literally wage war on them (2:279) is a choice. A terrible, intellectually dishonest, ideological, non-neutral choice.

Treat this book as such, and you’ll be fine. Read more (:

[Sally Sugarman · Rating 4 out of 5]

We live in a visual culture. One indication of this is the number of graphic non-fiction books that are published. I read as many of them as I can. This book is one of a series which I shall probably pursue. There is a great deal of text in this small 4 ½ x 6 ½ volume. There are many direct quotes from the theorists of capitalism as well as useful historical data. However, it is all made easier to absorb by the graphics that accompany the information. We see miniature drawn versions of the various thinkers along with images illustrating their points. For example, while an illustrated Marx is explaining social contradictions, there is a picture at the top of the page of a stereotyped image of a worker and a banker pulling on a dollar. As Milton Friedman is explaining Monetarism vs Keynesianism, there is a picture of him with scales and on the opposite page the scales have a worker on one side of the scale and money on the other as Friedman explains how the system works. These books are just an introduction, but they are informative and maintain the readers’ attention. The speech balloons of each character are supplemented by the additional text which is presented on different parts of the page supplementing the drawings which verge on caricatures while presenting the speakers respectfully. Various types of capitalism are shown including state capitalism and Islamic capitalism. Different perspectives are offered as well as a solid bibliography and an index

[Andrew Noselli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three synchronicities occurred recently, one I neglected to mention recently, the discussions of Kierkegaard in both Carl R. Rodgers A Way to Be and Karl Popper's The Open Society and Its Enemies, for which I am preparing a rather longer review, which didn't register until I found in this book an analysis of Marx, a thinker who is subject to a through-going critique in the final third of Open Society and, even more astonishing in my opinion is how the authors of this review of the development of capitalism focus on John Rawls' A Theory of Value, which is the next major work I am going to read ! I plan to rent it at the beginning of July 2021, you'll just have to take my word for it that it was planned this way months ahead of time. That coincidence, plus the Live Bowie playlist I created earlier today, make this a truly special summer. Do ye not see that God is truly on my side ?

[Ali Rehman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a non-fiction graphic novel that explores the history and impact of capitalism and traces the development of capitalism from its early stages to the present day, covering key events, figures, and ideas. The book also examines the pros and cons of capitalism, as well as the various criticisms that have been leveled against it. While the book acknowledges the criticisms of capitalism, it also presents its positive aspects, offering a balanced perspective on the system.


The combination of visuals and text condense complex information and book oversimplifies certain concepts, potentially leading to a superficial understanding of the subject.

[Todd Kinsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

A better title might be, Intro to Economics

This is a short look at not just capitalism but several economic theories. I feel the author was rather biased in their view of capitalism and did their best to juxtapose it with socialism and Marxism. I dare say there is just as much time, if not more, spent on these and other leftist ideas than on capitalism. A better title might have been, an introduction to economics.

[William Lozano-Rivas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Algunos economistas querrán pontificar acerca de lo que debió ser o lo que le faltó a este entretenido resumen del desarrollo histórico de las teorías que fundamentaron el capitalismo. No obstante, no nos llamemos a engaño. El capitalismo es un sistema aún en construcción y la economía parece más ciencia ficción especulativa que un sistema satisfactoriamente determinista. El libro me pareció genial.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Sobre este libro se basa mi primer examen de literatura de mi curso Business Ethics. Me gusto. Este libro me permitió analizar el Capitalismo desde su marco histórico. De esta manera es fácil identificar que el capitalismo, en su expresión más radical (libre mercado), no funciona. Y la fuerza opositora, que es la izquierda cada vez agarra mas vuelo.

El libro cubre superficialmente a Guy Debord, autor de La Sociedad del Espectáculo. Me despertó curiosidad. Esa sera mi siguiente lectura.

[Amanda Torres · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this brief intro to capitalism. I appreciate the way it broke down many of the ideologies, political shifts and historical events that led to our current economic systems. These things don't exist in a vacuum, understanding the sociopolitical systems of the times, the influence of religion and the changes to our relationship with the land really helped to make sense of these systems.

[Nina Ramadhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a decent option for those who want to know capitalism through the lens of many philosophers & economic thinkers. It gave an obvious answer to these questions: "Who created the idea of capitalism?" and "How does it work?"

There are lesser explanations on how capitalism is defined through other lenses except from philosophy & history. Appreciated the bits that explained how capitalism is viewed through some religions, though.

[widhia · Rating 4 out of 5]

menarik dan cukup asik untuk dibaca. seperti judulnya, isi buku ini berupa ringkasan pengenalan tentang kapitalisme; berupa sejarah hingga teori-teori yang dikemukakan dari masa ke masa. dikemas dalam bentuk ringkasan ilustrasi yang menurutku juga bikin seru bacanya, karena bacaan sejarah-teori kalo hanya tulisan aja bisa jadi bikin bosen dan kurang enjoy untuk sebagian orang termasuk pribadi, jadi lebih ringan bacanya.

[Celestino Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un recorrido por el concepto del capitalismo y cómo ha ido evolucionando a través del tiempo, y los filósofos o economistas que lo han influenciado. Una obra muy gráfica que permite, en muy pocas páginas, entender el desarrollo económico de la humanidad en los últimos siglos y arroja luz sobre muchos conceptos económicos, políticos y sociales que se relacionan a este desarrollo.

[Saahil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having studied the Economics subject for 5 grudging years, I quite enjoyed this graphical recap of Capitalism. I think this book does a great job of taking the reader chronologically through the philosophical developments in economic thought along with a commentary on the state of the world that forced these ideas to come into existence.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this at a charity shop and bought it for 50p. I think it's a great little book, it was a good refresher of key individuals, theories and events that I learnt about at university. It is a good starting point as well for further reading.
Yes it simplifies things but that's why its good for people wanting to learn more on the subject, it's a great starting point I'd say.

[Sarah Noble · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good refresher on the main Western economic theorists throughout the history of the development of capitalism. The comics were fun but some key definitions were in the drawings which I would've preferred being in the main text. As someone who went into the book fairly well informed about American / European sociology theorists, I would've appreciated a larger variety of global theorists.

[Manuel Del Río Rodríguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw the book on the teacher's room, and it seemed like a nice and short read, which proved to be the case. I'd recommend it is a light and first introduction to some basic notions of capitalism, its history and different explanations of how it works (including criticism). It is in graphic form (cartoons + text).

[Walter Sylesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beginning the New Year with a bunch of short reads made in a graphic novel format. Started with this short on capitalism over the years. Useful base for additional research and resources. Missed out on the moral basis of the system and mentioning my favorites - Rand and Mises - shows how heterodox good ideas can be even in a mainstream book.

[MK LaFs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes I read things and it highlights just how uneducated I am. I’m a visual learner so sometimes I need pictures to break things down. I am also not a math/finance/economic minded individual. This was helpful at times but more confusing at others. I did like the thesis-antithesis-synthesis explanation and will ponder that.