{"product_id":"iran-and-a-french-empire-of-trade-1700-1808-the-other-persian-letters-9781789622256","title":"Iran and a French empire of trade, 1700-1808: The","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eIran and a French Empire of Trade\u003c\/i\u003e examines the understudied topic of Franco-Persian relations in the long eighteenth century to highlight how rising tensions among Eurasian empires and revolutions in the Atlantic world were profoundly intertwined. Conflicts between Persia, Turkey, India and Russia, and European weapons-dealing with these empires occurred against a backdrop of climate change and food insecurities that destabilized markets. Takeda shows how the French state relied on “entrepreneurial imperialism” to extend commercial activities eastwards beyond the Mediterranean during this time, from Louis XIV’s reign to Napoleon Bonaparte’s First Empire. Organized as a collection of microhistories, her study showcases a colourful set of characters—rogue merchants from Marseille, a gambling house madam, a naturalized Greek-French drogman, and a bi-cultural Genevan-Persian consul, among others—to demonstrate how individuals on the fringes of French society spearheaded projects to foster ties between France and Persia.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eConsidering the Enlightenment as a product of a connected world, Takeda investigates how trans-imperial adventurers, merchants, consuls, and informants negotiated treaties, traded commodities and arms, transferred knowledge, and introduced industrial practices from Asia to Europe. And she shows the surprising ways in which Enlightenment debates about regime changes from the Safavid to Qajar dynasties and Persia’s borderland wars shaped French ideas about revolution and policies related to empire-building.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'[Iran and a French empire of trade's] innovative approach, accessible style, and unique cast of characters make it a valuable resource for students and scholars working on French and Iranian history in a global context.'\u003cbr\u003eJulia Caterina Hartley, \u003ci\u003eFrench Studies\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘\u003ci\u003eIran and a French empire of trade\u003c\/i\u003e is not only of interest to specialists in the history of French-Persian exchange or orientalism more broadly, but also an important contribution to our understanding of how early modern empire worked. Takeda's study captures the nuance and complexity of its formal and informal dynamics, spaces, and competing stakeholders with writing that is erudite, clear, and concise, and with an eye to interesting historical detail that pulls at the strands of the larger story through engaging digressions.’\u003cbr\u003e Paul Babinski, \u003ci\u003eIranian Studies\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘This book is highly readable and appealing, combining early-modern Iranian history with intellectual trends of the French Enlightenment.’ Mehdi Mousavi, \u003cem\u003eBritish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Liverpool University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50470046892375,"sku":"9781789622256","price":98.3,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781789622256.jpg?v=1744897232","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/iran-and-a-french-empire-of-trade-1700-1808-the-other-persian-letters-9781789622256","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}