菲利普·D·柯丁，美国约翰·霍普金斯大学赫伯特·巴克斯特·亚当斯历史学教授，一直是非洲历史现代研究的先锋人物，共出版了19部著作，如《非洲印象》（Tile Image of Africa）、《大西洋奴隶贸易：一项人口调查》（The Atlan—tic Slave Trade：A Census）等，所著的《迁移致死：19世纪欧洲遭遇热带世界》（Death by Migration：Europe’s Encounter with the Tropical World in the Nineteentb Century）被《美国历史评论》杂志誉为“开创性的作品”；1983年任美国历史协会主席，并曾获得麦克·阿瑟奖。

A single theme is pursued in this book - the trade between peoples of differing cultures through world history. Extending from the ancient world to the coming of the commercial revolution, Professor Curtin's discussion encompasses a broad and diverse group of trading relationships. Drawing on insights from economic history and anthropology, Professor Curtin has attempted to move beyond a Europe-centred view of history, to one that can help us understand the entire range of societies in the human past. Examples have been chosen that illustrate the greatest variety of trading relationships between cultures. The opening chapters look at Africa, while subsequent chapters treat the ancient world, the Mediterranean trade with China, the Asian trade in the east, and European entry into the trade with maritime Asia, the Armenian trade carriers of the seventeenth century, and the North American fur trade. Wide-ranging in its concern and the fruit of exhaustive research, the book is nevertheless written so as to be accessible and stimulating to the specialist and the student alike.