18th century history, especially the history of economic thought and economic history. Current projects include a short book on the transnational history of France; “The Inner Life of Empires,” about an adventurous family in 18th-century Scotland; and a book about the East India Company and the American Revolution. I am Director of the Center for History and Economics, and am involved in a collaborative research project, at the University of Cambridge and at Harvard, “Exchanges of Economic and Political Ideas since 1760.” Recent publications include "The Archives of Universal History" (Journal of World History, September 2008), “A Horrible Tragedy in the French Atlantic” (Past and Present, August 2006), and Economic Sentiments: Adam Smith, Condorcet and the Enlightenment (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press 2001).

Selected Publications

• "A Horrible Tragedy in the French Atlantic" in Past and Present, No. 192 pp. 67-108 (August 2006)
• "Adam Smith" in The Cambridge Companion to Adam Smith with Amartya Sen (2005)
• "Language and Empire, c. 1800" in Historical Research, Vol. 78, No. 200 pp 208-229 (May 2005)
• "Global Commerce and the Question of Sovereignty in the 18th Century Provinces" in Modern Intellectual History, Vol 1, No. 1 pp 3-25 (April 2004)
• Economic Sentiments: Adam Smith, Condorcet and the Enlightenment Harvard University Press (2001)

 

Contact Info

Center for Government and International Studies-South Building

Room S-424

1730 Cambridge Street

Cambridge, MA 02138

rothsch@fas.harvard.edu

617.496.4868

Office Hours: Wednesday 2:30-3:30 and by appt.

Course(s): 83a, 2330

Center for History and Economics

Curriculum Vitae

Future Courses