Michael Prichard

Recognized almost instantly upon its publication in 1776 as the fundamental work of economics, The Wealth of Nations was also recognized as really long: the original edition totaled over 900 pages in two volumes-including the blockbuster 67-page "digression concerning the variations in the value of silver during the course of the last four centuries," which, according to P. J. O'Rourke, "to those uninterested in the historiography of currency supply,...