Merchants to Multinationals: British Trading Companies in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries [Paperback]

Geoffrey Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 16, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0199249997 | ISBN-13: 978-0199249992

This book examines the evolution of multinational trading companies from the eighteenth century to the present day. During the Industrial Revolution, British merchants established overseas branches which became major trade intermediaries and subsequently engaged in foreign direct investment. Complex multinational business groups emerged controlling large investments in natural resources, processing, and services in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...the study, by illuminating how companies adapt to survive and prosper in different and changing cultural and sociopolitical conditions, is a welcomed supplement to the sterility depicted by orthodox economic models of the firm and illustrates the great strength of historical perspective for economic analysis."--Choice

"This is a splendid book. It not only delineates the trading companies' expansion (and contraction) but also puts that story in the context of the evolving world economy....It is essential reading for every economic and business historian interested in the history of multinational enterprise, in British economic history, and also in where British business fits in the evolution of the world economy....a major accomplishment."--EH.NET

"...an innovative contribution to British economic history....Merchants is a clear and coherent analysis of an elusive subject."--Business History Review

"In this impressive and important study, Jones successfully balances the use of detailed evidence drawn from extensive archival research with attention to broader questions and perspectives. ... This volume will rapidly become required reading for all those interested in the history of international business; but it deserves a wider audience, especially among those dealing with colonialism and economic development."--Enterprise and Society

About the Author

Geoffrey Jones is Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, Harvard Business School. He previously taught at the universities of Cambridge and Reading, and at the London School of Economics and Political Science, in Great Britain.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (May 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199249997
• ISBN-13: 978-0199249992
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,828,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Geoffrey Jones teaches the history of global business at the Harvard Business School, where he holds the Isidor Straus Professorship, established in 1927 as the first Chair in business history in the world. His most recent book, which is on the history of the globalization of the beauty industry, is Beauty Imagined. He is now researching the history of green entrepreneurship. He lives in Belmont, Massachusetts.