A critical reassessment of the life and work of the path-breaking economic historian Werner Sombart.
Sombart is perhaps best known as the inventor of the concept of Spätkapitalismus (Late Capitalism) and a follower (for some time) of Hitler’s National Socialism. Yet he is still a forgotten major figure in German social science. As the author of a widely-read exposition on socialism and social movements (trade unions), the monumental Der moderne Kapitalismus, and a controversial monograph on the role of the Jews in the birth of capitalism, he is shown in this book in the broader context of the disputes in the first decades of the 20th century involving Marxists, German Jews and his friend Max Weber.
Publication date: July 1, 2026
Relegated to Footnotes: an Introduction
1 Das Kapital and Engels in the Life of the German Professor
2 Extraordinarius and Social Democracy
3 Socialism-Friendly Bestseller as “Castrated and Completely Harmless” Marxism
4 Modern Capitalism or Histoire Raisonnée
5 Precursor: der Kapitalistische Geist According to Sombart
6 Sombart’s Jews, with Weber and Marx in the Background
7 Epilogue: “What Does Sombart Actually Want?”
Bibliography
Index
