"It is impossible to trade without fighting, it is impossible to fight without trading." This well-known phrase, as critics noted, is a kind of quintessence of William Bernstein's book on one of the most interesting topics - the history of world trade. It began in the III millennium BC, when the Sumerians first began to pay for goods in silver - and continues to this day. "You will not deceive - you will not sell" - this is the old motto of merchants. But sometimes trade interests worked wonders: they opened new lands and continents, helped conquer and destroy empires, built bridges between peoples and civilizations. So what is it in reality, this amazing story of the Great Exchange?..