Description
The riveting history of the East India Company, a private enterprise that became a de facto colonial power, William Dalrymple’s latest book is a cautionary tale about the pernicious effects of capitalism and the dangers of unregulated corporate greed.
The Times History Book of the Year
Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-fiction 2019
In August 1765 the East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor and forced him to establish a new administration in his richest provinces. Run by English merchants who collected taxes using a ruthless private army, this new regime saw the East India Company transform itself from an international trading corporation into something much more unusual: an aggressive colonial power in the guise of a multinational business.
William Dalrymple tells the remarkable story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power.
Number of pages: 576
Dimensions: 198 x 129 mm