Adam Smith (1723-1790) was one of the brightest stars of the eighteenth-century Scottish Enlightenment. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations was his most important book. First published in London in March 1776, it had been eagerly anticipated by Smiths contemporaries and became an immediate bestseller. That edition sold out quickly and others followed. Today, Smiths Wealth of Nations rightfully claims a place in the Western intellectual canon.



It is the first book of modern political economy, and still provides the foundation for the study of that discipline.
But it is much more than that. Along with important discussions of economics and political