Alan K. Smith Creating a World Economy: Merchant Capital, Colonialism, and World Trade, 1400-1825. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1993. 0813311098 viii/318 pages. Softcover volume, measuring approximately 6.25" x 9.25", is like new.  This exploration in world history examines complex and intriguing questions about the origins of the first truly global economy, centred in Europe, which served as a solid basis for the eventual emergence of the modern world system.