Merchants: The Community That Shaped England's Trade and Empire, 1550-1650

A new history of English trade and empire—revealing how a tightly woven community of merchants was the true origin of globalized Britain

In the century following Elizabeth I’s rise to the throne, English trade blossomed as thousands of merchants launched ventures across the globe. Through the efforts of these "mere merchants," England developed from a peripheral power on the fringes of Europe to a country at the center of a global commercial web, with interests stretching from Virginia to A...