Tirthankar Roy is a Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics. He has published widely on South Asian history, global history, empires, and environmental history. His publications include The Economy of South Asia: From 1950 to the Present (2017) and India in the World Economy from Antiquity to the Present (Cambridge, 2012).

• Preface; List of figures; List of tables; List of maps; List of boxes; 1. Introduction; 2. The baseline at 1700; 3. Indian Ocean sphere, 1700–1850; 4. Capital and empire, 1850–1930: trade and finance; 5. Capital and empire, 1850–1930: industry; 6. State and industrialization, 1930–1950; 7. State and industrialization, 1950–1980; 8. Revival, 1980–2000; 9. Capital and globalization, 2000–2015; 10. Conclusion; References; Index.

'Roy has written a book of stunning intellectual ambition. He provides a brilliant synthesis of the long-run development of Indian capitalism, but more importantly still offers a compelling explanatory framework which shows how the changing roles of the global economy and the state influenced access to capital and knowledge'. Geoffrey Jones, Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, Harvard Business School, Massachusetts