title: The Wealth of Nations (Books 1-3)
author: Adam Smith
description: Adam Smith (17231790) was a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The latter, usually abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work of economics. It earned him an enormous reputation and would become one of the most influential works on economics ever published. Smith is widely cited as the father of modern economics and capitalism. Smith studied social philosophy at the University of Glasgow and the University of Oxford. After graduating, he delivered a successful series of public lectures at Edinburgh, leading him to collaborate with David Hume during the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith obtained a professorship at Glasgow teaching moral philosophy, and during this time he wrote and published The Theory of Moral Sentiments. In his later life, he took a tutoring position that allowed him to travel throughout Europe, where he met other intellectual leaders of his day. Smith returned home and spent the next ten years writing The Wealth of Nations, publishing it in 1776. He died in 1790.
zlib_text: The Routledge Guidebook to  
  Smith’s Wealth of Nations
  Adam Smith (1723– 1790) is famous around the world as the founding 
  father of economics, and his ideas are regularly quoted and invoked by pol-
  iticians, business leaders, economists, and philosophers. However, con-
  sidering his fame, few people have actually read the whole of his magnum 
  opus The Wealth of Nations –  the first book to describe and lay out many of 
  the concepts that are crucial to modern economic thinking. The Routledge 
  Guidebook to Smith’s Wealth of Nations provides an accessible, clear, and 
  concise introduction to the arguments of this most notorious and influen-
  tial of economic texts. The Guidebook examines:
  • 
  the historical context of Smith’s thought and the background to this 
  seminal work
  • 
  the key arguments and ideas developed throughout The Wealth of 
  Nations
  • 
  the enduring legacy of Smith’s work
  The Routledge Guidebook to Smith’s Wealth of Nations is essential read-
  ing for students of philosophy, ec