Adam Smith (1723-1790) was one of the brightest stars of the eighteenth-century Scottish Enlightenment An Inquiry into the Nature & Causes of the Wealth of Nations was his most important book First published in London in March 1776 it had been eagerly anticipated by Smith's contemporaries & became an immediate bestseller That edition sold out quickly & others followed Today Smith's Wealth of Nations rightfully claims a place in the Western intellectual canon It is the first book of modern political economy & still provides the foundation for the study of that discipline But it is much more than that Along with important discussions of economics & political theory Smith mixed plain common sense with large measures of history philosophy psychology sociology & much else Few texts remind us so clearly that the Enlightenment was very much a lived experience a concern with improving the human condition in practical ways for real people A masterpiece by any measure Wealth of Nations remains a classic of world literature to be usefully enjoyed by readers today