Duncan Weldon’s Blood and Treasure: The Economics of Conflict from the Vikings to the Modern Era is a historic study of how economic forces shape conflict and state power. Weldon talks about the evolution of warfare from an economic perspective, from the ability to raise your money and manage your debts better than your foe to how warfare turned into an economic negative due to the evolution of war itself into a more violent, scorched earth style struggle.
Weldon highlights over a dozen examples of economics and war, starting with the Vikings in the Middle Ages and continuing through the modern Russian conflicts with Ukraine. Each of these examples offer case studies that show why some states could fight longer and recover faster than rivals and how some states were better positioned going into conflict than others. Weldon artfully articulates in one part of the book that not all American dollars were equal at one time and also that the North’s ability to nationalize the dollar during the Civil War gave it a significant economic advantage over the South.
The vast majority of the book is written with European examples. Genghis Khan does earn a chapter, as does colonial India in the 19th Century under the control of the British East India Company. However, much of the book is European or American in focus. That said, the context and history of war and economics over time is valuable as a way to gain understanding of how finance and power interact. Students of economic history and politics will find Blood and Treasure an enjoyable read.
MY RATING: 4
