-
Get a Free Issue
of our Ezine!
When Companies Ruled the World, 1600--1900
by Stephen R. Bown
An engaging blend of biography and economic/colonial history, Merchant Kings tells the story of the trading companies that monopolized vast territories all over the world during the first great period of globalization. The leaders of these trading companies exercised dictatorial power over millions of people, and devoted their time and resources to the accumulation of wealth through hunting, trapping, trade and exploration.
It was a harsh existence on the frontiers of the civilized world, and these kings of commerce were larger-than-life characters; adventurers as well as merchants. They included men like Peter Stuyvesant, the one-legged governor of the Dutch West India Company; Cecil Rhodes, founder of the De Beers company (and after whom Rhodesia was named); and George Simpson, the infamous 'Little Emperor' of the Hudson's Bay Company, who was chauffeured around his vast fur domain in a giant canoe, exhorting his oarsmen to paddle harder in order to set canoeing speed records.
Merchant Kings examines their rise and fall in the centuries before colonialism and empire, analyzing the political, social and cultural legacies of this fascinating, cut-throat age.
Media reviews not yet available.
This information about Merchant Kings was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Pony Confidential
by Christina Lynch
In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.
.png)
The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
