This is one of the most important books I've read this year. I've been researching and writing about capitalism and imperialism for my whole career, and I learned something from every page. It's a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the world economy. 
The Patnaiks argue that capital accumulation in the global North *requires* an imperialist arrangement with the global South, not as a bug but as a feature. This helps explain several turns in global economic history that economists have otherwise struggled to understand.
The book also includes a chapter that updates Utsa Patnaik's research on the British colonial drain from India, which I had reported on here. New data puts the total figure at $66 trillion. aljazeera.com/opinions/2018/…
At the end they provide concrete strategies for decolonization and economic sovereignty, reviving Samir Amin's ideas for how the South can "de-link" from exploitative arrangements of trade and finance with the North.
The Patnaiks are some of the most powerful and compelling thinkers in this space and they deserve significantly more attention in Western academia and progressive social movements.
By the way, the image on the front cover is of a train carrying grain appropriated from Indian farmers, for use by British colonizers. Children poke through holes, trying to pierce the bags and pull grain down.
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