Global Trade and the Shaping of English Freedom

This book explores the connections between seventeenth-century English history and the history of the rest of the world, demonstrating how greater engagement with the world beyond Europe shaped English experiences. It shows that early modern trading corporations were driven and transformed by the immediate and local interests of Company agents and their foreign networks, connecting non-European power and preference to English debates about freedom and the trades they participated in overseas.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 02 November 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press

This book presents a fresh perspective on the intricate connections between seventeenth-century English history and the broader history of the world. By avoiding nationalist narratives, it highlights how greater engagement with the world beyond Europe influenced key aspects of the English experience. At the heart of the story are early modern trading corporations, which play a pivotal role. Global Trade and the Shaping of English Freedom offers a radically different interpretation of these entities' practices. Contrary to popular notions, the companies were not monolithic entities solely driven by narrow nationalist interests abroad. Nor were they inefficient monopolies destined to fail. In the seventeenth century, as this book demonstrates, they were propelled and transformed by the immediate and local interests of Company agents and their foreign networks. As the primary intermediaries between international contexts and English legal and political debates, the trading companies established connections between non-European power and preferences and these discussions. These often overlooked actors within the corporate sphere take center stage in this book, as they shape the English discourse on the meaning of English freedom and the future of the trades they engaged in overseas.

Moreover, the book offers a valuable insight into the foreign actors who shaped English commercial and legal ideas and practices during the seventeenth century. It also explores the significant contributions made by the Ottoman, Bantenese, Huedan, Siamese, and Mughal societies to the ideological, institutional, and procedural foundations that would gradually evolve into the British Empire. By examining these interconnections, the book provides a comprehensive understanding of the complex web of influences that shaped the development of English society and culture in the early modern period.

Weight: 526g
Dimension: 164 x 242 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780198846710