Kniga soderzhit kompleks uchebnykh i metodicheskikh materialov: tematicheskoe soderzhanie kursa, materialy dlya izucheniya, temy dokladov i referatov, voprosy k zachetu, perechen' rekomenduemoy literatury. Posobie sostavleno v sootvetstvii s Federal'nym standartom po distsipline Istoriya ekonomiki. Znanie istorii ekonomiki pozvolyaet sformirovat' nauchnoe ponimanie real'nykh khozyaystvennykh protsessov i dolgosrochnykh tendentsiy ekonomicheskogo razvitiya, privivaet navyk sistemnogo videniya sotsial'no-ekonomicheskikh protsessov v raznykh stranakh mira. Predstavlennye materialy dlya izucheniya okhvatyvayut dostatochno bol'shoy period ot zarozhdeniya obmena do nachala XXIv. Rekomenduetsya studentam ekonomicheskikh spetsial'nostey.