The central theme is the evolution and growth of capitalism. Then we have our two powerful protagonists, capital and state, who cannot live without one another but seem constantly locked in combat. Italics in original. Manifesto of the Communist Party , 1848. The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, 1852.
Any textbook is a balancing act.
In this text I have tried to balance economic history, the history of economic thought and economic theory. The student who would like to wade deeper in one or more of these streams may wish to read another book along with this one. Another is to follow the deeper stream of economic history.