Free trade, free world

In this era of globalization, it is easy to forget that today's free market values were not always predominant. But as this history of the birth of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) shows, the principles and practices underlying our current international economy once represented contested ground between U.S. policymakers, Congress, and America's closest allies.

Drawing on historical and theoretical work in a variety of fields and tapping archives in the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, Thomas Zeiler weaves a complex story of diplomacy, negotiation, and politics that uncovers the roots of our current economic ideology.