Description
Book SynopsisHow did England go from a position of inferiority to the powerful Spanish empire to achieve global pre-eminence? In this important second book, Alison Games, a colonial American historian, explores the period from 1560 to 1660, when England challenged dominion over the American continents, established new long-distance trade routes in the eastern Mediterranean and the East Indies, and emerged in the 17th century as an empire to reckon with. Games discusses such topics as the men and women who built the colonial enterprise, the political and fiscal factors that made such growth possible, and domestic politics that fueled commercial expansion. Her cast of characters includes soldiers and diplomats, merchants and mariners, ministers and colonists, governors and tourists, revealing the surprising breath of foreign experiences ordinary English people had in this period. This book is also unusual in stretching outside Europe to include Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. A comparative imperia
Trade ReviewThe Web of Empire: English Cosmopolitanism in an Age of Expansion offers a rather benign view of how global empire was built, with a dazzling array of explorers, travellers, merchants, clerics and even soldiers often more concerned to learn from exotic peoples than to impose on them. * The Independent *
Like Games's earlier effort, The Web of Empire conveys the result of prodigious research; anyone who has attempted archival research of English activity in far-flung locations in this early period will be impressed by Games's energy and tenacity. * New England Quarterly *
Remarkable.There is much about this book that asks us to rethink our orientations (and occidentations) in the early modern English world. * Huntington Library Quarterly *
a masterful analysis of the early and often-overlooked history of the British empire * Roland H. Bainton Prize Committee *
an interesting and well-researched book full of unique insights, engaging anecdotes, and interesting case studies. * Ronald J. Fritze, Sixteenth Century Journal *
[Games'] provocative book should inspire future debate and stimulate additional scholarship on the extent to which human agency influenced early modern imperial expansion. * Christopher P. Magra, Northern Mariner *
from start to finish, this is an argumentative book written in accessible prose, which is certain to generate debate, stimulate challenges, and consolidate the reputation of Alison Games as one of the most accomplished scholars writing today on England's North American World within the context of its more general expansion overseas. * Nicholas Canny, English Historical Review *
Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Before the Grand Tour: The Domestication of Travel ; 2. The Mediterranean Origins of the British Empire ; 3. English Overseas Merchants in an Expanding World of Trade, 1590-1650 ; 4. Virginia, 1607-1622 ; 5. All the King's Men: Governors, Consuls, and Ambassadors, 1590-1650 ; 6. Madagascar, 1635-1650 ; 7. The Cosmopolitan Clergy, 1620-1660 ; 8. Ireland, 1649-1660 ; Conclusion
