Books IV-V of this work are more interesting than books I-III. These later volumes deal with mercantilism, colonies and the sources and expenses of public finance. Smith is clearly oriented toward practice rather than theory, so the book is packed with economic data from the 1700s. His general conclusions are dispersed here and there and he seldom emphasizes them very much. But for non-specialist readers, I would definitely recommend only books IV-V of The Wealth of Nations since they contain most of the historically influential material.