A Harvard professor published an expansive global history of capitalism based on eight years of research, reframing capitalism as a contingent human invention rather than an inevitable state. The book has drawn praise for scope and criticism for emphasis, and it reinvigorates scholarly debate on capitalism’s institutional development. For higher education, the book highlights the role of long-form academic work in shaping public discourse and the university’s role in producing interpretive frameworks for economic history. It also underscores resource commitments required for large-scale humanities scholarship: research assistants, archival travel, and multi-year fellowships. Public-facing scholarship of this scale can raise a university’s profile, influence curricula in history and political economy, and prompt cross-campus seminars that connect humanities findings to social-science and policy programs.