Citizens of the World : London Merchants and the Integration of the British Atlantic Community, 1735-1785

Rating:
Summary: Who knew economic history could be this much fun?
Review: "Citizens" is a vivid, readable portrait of a group of men who, by virtue of their merchant enterprises, helped to shape the destiny of the American colonies in the 18th century. The author, while not stinting on historic detail, manages to squeeze in enough lively anecdotes about the men, their times, and their lives, to make "the Associates" human -- and utterly fascinating.

Rating:
Summary: A striking account of 23 successful London merchants
Review: David Hancock has written a striking account of the careers of twenty-three very successful London merchants who invested together in several particularly challenging and rewarding branches of British overseas trade in the eighteenth century. His masterful study is based on intense and imaginative research in Britain, the continent, the United States and the West Indies. From his rich findings, he has developed a thoughtful and probing treatment of topics such as the wholesale slave trade, the Scots element in the City of London and the large government contractors in the Seven Years War. His achievement is most impressive.
Jacob M. Price, University of Michigan (from the dust jacket)

Rating:
Summary: Something for everyone interested in 18th-century history
Review: This fascinating book has something in it for almost everyone interested in eighteenth-century history. Business historians will find keen analysis of the techniques that a remarkable group of entrepreneurs used to propel themselves from the periphery to the center of Britain's imperial economy. Cultural historians will acquire new insights into what it meant to be British at the moment that identity was being forged. Students of British and American history in general will discover how intricately social ambition, commerce, war, and slavery interacted in the construction of the first empire. And anyone at all who admires intricate argument, imaginative research, and stylish prose will find "Citizens of the World" a delight.
Fred Anderson, University of Colorado at Boulder (from the dust jacket)