This groundbreaking book traces the rich and perilous history of the ships and sailors that launched the global economy. The first line of navigation between Asia and the Americas, the Manila galleons first set sail from the Philippines in 1565, remaining the lifeblood of world trade until the last galleon of 1815. Drawing on a remarkable body of research, leading scholar Arturo Giraldez traces the rise of the maritime route, which began with the founding of the city of Manila in 1571 and ended in 1815 when the last galleon left the port of Acapulco in New Spain (Mexico) for the Philippines, establishing a permanent connection between the Spanish empire in America with Asian countries, most importantly China, the main supplier of commodities during that era. Throughout the two-and-a-half-century history of the Manila galleons, the strategic commodity fuelling global networks was always silver. Giraldez shows how this most important of precious metals shaped world history, with influences that stretch to the present.