# The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi

3 Hacker News commenters recommended The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a historical look at how attempts to force a market society on England shaped modern economies, and as a book people feel is more relevant now than ever.

## Why people recommend it

- Explains how markets existed in ancient times (1 comments): "Karl Polanyi "The Great Transformation" which discusses how though ancient markets existed" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48202390))
- Insightful view of forced market society (1 comments): "has a great way of looking at the attempts to force "market society" on England" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47802277))
- More relevant now than ever (1 comments): "which is a more important book now than ever, I humbly propose" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49054027))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Debt by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/debt-the-first-5-000-years.md): 19 recommend
- [The Origin of Capitalism by Ellen Meiksins Wood](https://hackerapproved.com/p/origin-of-capitalism.md): 3 recommend
- [The Rise and Fall of American Growth by Robert Gordon](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rise-and-fall-of-american-growth.md): 2 recommend
- [The Almighty Dollar by Brendan Greeley](https://hackerapproved.com/p/almighty-dollar.md): 2 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/080705643X?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780807056431) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi", https://hackerapproved.com/p/great-transformation/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).