America today is more powerful than any empire that has ever existed, and yet America is not an empire. How did a country with only six percent of the world’s land, and only six percent of its people, come to so dominate the globe?

“The reason,” argues John Steele Gordon, “is the American economy.” In his new book, An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power (HarperCollins), Gordon tells this national success story as it’s never been told before. From the founding of Jamestown to the birth of the Internet, he brings to life the admirable determination, the bold risk, the incredible bravado, and the dumb luck that turned a vast wilderness into a cultural colossus.

Arguing that the story of America’s power and dynamism is inextricably bound up with its entrepreneurial spirit, John Steele Gordon “manages to please, educate, and enlighten us on every page,” enthuses Ron Chernow, author of Alexander Hamilton.

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