H. V. Bowen is Senior Lecturer in Economic and Social History at the University of Leicester. His previous books include Elites, Enterprise, and the Making of the Briish Overseas Empire, 1688–1775 (1996); and War and British Society, 1688–1815 (1998).

• 1. Introduction; 2. Relationships: city, state, and empire; 3. Relationships: government and Company; 4. People: investors in empire; 5. People: company men; 6. Methods: an empire in writing; 7. Methods: the government of empire; 8. Methods: the management of trade; 9. Influences: the Company and the British economy; Afterword.

Review of the hardback: 'In many places he paints with a broad brush but, using the Company's ledgers, he does so with accuracy and an eye for detail that brings India and China, Britain and Europe, into the board room … Bowen and Cambridge University Press are to be congratulated on producing a very important book.' History

H. V. Bowen is Senior Lecturer in Economic and Social History at the University of Leicester. His previous books include Elites, Enterprise, and the Making of the Briish Overseas Empire, 1688–1775 (1996); and War and British Society, 1688–1815 (1998).

• 1. Introduction; 2. Relationships: city, state, and empire; 3. Relationships: government and Company; 4. People: investors in empire; 5. People: company men; 6. Methods: an empire in writing; 7. Methods: the government of empire; 8. Methods: the management of trade; 9. Influences: the Company and the British economy; Afterword.

Review of the hardback: 'In many places he paints with a broad brush but, using the Company's ledgers, he does so with accuracy and an eye for detail that brings India and China, Britain and Europe, into the board room … Bowen and Cambridge University Press are to be congratulated on producing a very important book.' History

H. V. Bowen is Senior Lecturer in Economic and Social History at the University of Leicester. His previous books include Elites, Enterprise, and the Making of the Briish Overseas Empire, 1688–1775 (1996); and War and British Society, 1688–1815 (1998).

• 1. Introduction; 2. Relationships: city, state, and empire; 3. Relationships: government and Company; 4. People: investors in empire; 5. People: company men; 6. Methods: an empire in writing; 7. Methods: the government of empire; 8. Methods: the management of trade; 9. Influences: the Company and the British economy; Afterword.

Review of the hardback: 'In many places he paints with a broad brush but, using the Company's ledgers, he does so with accuracy and an eye for detail that brings India and China, Britain and Europe, into the board room … Bowen and Cambridge University Press are to be congratulated on producing a very important book.' History