This is a very enjoyable book, showing how trade shaped history, from Phoenician times to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_He, Marco Polo, the British pirates and the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company...
The only drawback is that it covers too many subjects, and finally none in a very specialized form. And of course his positive view of modern trade is totally delusional, and doesn't take into account the immense toll on environment.