The Business of Empire
The East India Company and Imperial Britain, 1756–1833

Study of the impact in Britain when the East India Company acquired a South Asian 'empire' .

H. V. Bowen (Author)

9780521089821, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 November 2008

320 pages, 15 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.47 kg

Review of the hardback: '… Bowen … writes in a highly readable jargon-free style. One of the measures of his success in producing such a stimulating work,which will undoubtedly become a 'standard', is the way that reading him provokes so many thoughts of further research possibilities.' Asian Affairs

The Business of Empire assesses the domestic impact of British imperial expansion by analysing what happened in Britain following the East India Company's acquisition of a vast territorial empire in South Asia. Drawing on a mass of hitherto unused material contained in the company's administrative and financial records, the book offers a reconstruction of the inner workings of the company as it made the remarkable transition from business to empire during the late-eighteenth century. H. V. Bowen profiles the company's stockholders and directors and examines how those in London adapted their methods, working practices, and policies to changing circumstances in India. He also explores the company's multifarious interactions with the domestic economy and society, and sheds important new light on its substantial contributions to the development of Britain's imperial state, public finances, military strength, trade and industry. This book will appeal to all those interested in imperial, economic and business history.

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.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], Colonialism & imperialism [HBTQ], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], British & Irish history [HBJD1], Regional studies [GTB]