SKU: 82005711509

Merchant Kings: When Companies Ruled the World, 1600--1900

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Merchant Kings: When Companies Ruled the World, 1600--1900Commerce meets conquest in this swashbuckling story of the six merchant adventurers who built the modern world It was an era when monopoly trading companies were the unofficial agents of European expansion, controlling vast numbers of people and huge tracts of land, and taking on governmental and military functions. They managed their territories as business interests, treating their subjects as employees, customers, or competitors. The leaders of

Commerce meets conquest in this swashbuckling story of the six merchant-adventurers who built the modern world

It was an era when monopoly trading companies were the unofficial agents of European expansion, controlling vast numbers of people and huge tracts of land, and taking on governmental and military functions. They managed their territories as business interests, treating their subjects as employees, customers, or competitors. The leaders of these trading enterprises exercised virtually unaccountable, dictatorial political power over millions of people.

The merchant kings of the Age of Heroic Commerce were a rogue's gallery of larger-than-life men who, for a couple hundred years, expanded their far-flung commercial enterprises over a sizable portion of the world. They include Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the violent and autocratic pioneer of the Dutch East India Company; Peter Stuyvesant, the one-legged governor of the Dutch West India Company, whose narrow-minded approach lost Manhattan to the British; Robert Clive, who rose from company clerk to become head of the British East India Company and one of the wealthiest men in Britain; Alexandr Baranov of the Russian American Company; Cecil Rhodes, founder of De Beers and Rhodesia; and George Simpson, the Little Emperor of the Hudson's Bay Company, who was chauffeured about his vast fur domain in a giant canoe, exhorting his voyageurs to paddle harder so he could set speed records.
Merchant Kings looks at the rise and fall of company rule in the centuries before colonialism, when nations belatedly assumed responsibility for their commercial enterprises. A blend of biography, corporate history, and colonial history, this book offers a panoramic, new perspective on the enormous cultural, political, and social legacies, good and bad, of this first period of unfettered globalization.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Published: 12/07/2010
ISBN: 9780312616113
Pages: 314
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.20w x 1.20d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 10/01/2010
Publishers Weekly 10/25/2010
Booklist 11/15/2010 pg. 2
Library Journal 12/01/2010 pg. 124
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SKU: 82005711509

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Jeffrey
Alexandria, US
★★★★★ 5
Bang for the buck
Color: Blackout
Let me previce this review by stating that I have had multiple fitness watches including Garmin suunto Timex and Casio. This watch has some limitations and I will get to them. The first thing is the design and functionality. The picture doesn't do this watch justice. It is sleek. Small enough to not be gaudy. But large enough to look appropriate regardless of your body size. I am 6' 180 lbs and its perfect. The functionality is great. Some watches require a college degree but this watch is simple to program and switch through modes. It has a lap counter countdown timer stop watch as well as time day date etc. It also has more features that don't interest me for fitness so I won't go into them. One complaint other reviewers have stated is with the black background it can be difficult to see display. To them I would reply the top right button is a light. Push it once to illuminate the display. Problem solved. Having a black background does make the display less visible. That's obvious to me but perhaps not everyone. With that being said I only have to use the light if I'm in a dark area. In normal room lighting it is easy to see. This watch does not have GPS capabilities which other watches I've had has. Add another zero to the price of this watch and you can have GPS too. I use this watch mainly for indoor fitness inc swimming and running on an indoor track and use my garmin outdoors. This is a great everyday watch and a great price. No issues no complaints.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2015
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Bert
Alexandria, US
★★★★★ 5
6 years and still going
Color: Blackout, Color: Blackout
Owned for 6 years and still going strong. Worn daily, including showers. The only time I take it off is to sleep. The face is scratched up and some buttons worn smooth (I wear it on the inside of my wrist). A few tiny cracks are beginning to form on one of the wristband pieces. Replaced the battery after about 3 years. It has three alarms and I use them regularly. You can choose to set each alarm for daily, weekdays, or weekends. I also use the timer a lot. Indiglo gets used every morning and many evenings. You can disable modes that you never use, so you only see what you want. I never use chronograph, so I have that disabled. Incredible watch.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2026
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Ben
Chelsea, US
★★★★★ 5
The watch of our era
Color: Blackout
Bought this ‘used’ but looks like only the box had some ‘damage’ but the watch was perfectly brand new. I’ve been wearing a timex Ironman watch since my tenth birthday. I’ve served in the Marine corps and wore one while on tour. I’ve worn them snorkeling and diving. I’m a mechanic and have worn it on my belt loop while working, and depending what I’m doing I’ll leave it on. I wear it in the shower, the pool, beach, kayaking, skydiving, mudding, surfing, fishing, shooting, and while relaxing in my recliner. I’ve only had one battery die, and it was easily replaced. This is the watch of our era. Stop reading this review and buy one!
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Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2026
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Starboard10
Alexandria, US
★★★★★ 3
Very dim
Color: Black/Yellow Accent
This was a gift for our son. The watch functions well, but I returned it because the screen was very hard to read.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2026
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Kimberly L. Howard
Louisville, US
★★★★★ 5
Trust this seller speaks the truth!!
Color: C-Blue
Comfort is a 10! Appearance is very very nice!! Readability is excellent! Accuracy is 💯 !! Quality is a 10! Value - couldn’t love it more!! At first I didn’t think that he sent me a watch without a battery, but lo and behold I opened the box again and definitely saw the watch was working! I’ve been scammed several times- but this is truly AWESOME !!! Thank you all!!!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2026

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