Max Weber-Gesamtausgabe

The major text presented in this volume appeared in English in 1927 as Max Weber's General Economic History. It is, however, not a book written by him, but a reconstruction of a lecture, which he delivered during the winter term 1919/20. This reconstruction provided by Siegmund Hellmann and Melchior Palyi on the basis of student notes became very influential. In this volume of the Max Weber-Gesamtausgabe, the reconstruction is presented in a historical-critical manner and combined with lecture notes by students unpublished till now. It allows a comparison between the reconstruction and the student notes and confirms that the reconstruction can be regarded as reliable. The introduction und the editorial reports elaborate the context of the lecture which is Weber's most comprehensive statement on the history of capitalism.