Edmond Smith Archives - Aspects of History

Profit, Power, and the Making of Modern Britain

From the Black Hole of Kolkata and the Battle of Plassey to the Lancashire mills, Britain’s economic headway in the 18th century hinged on war, commerce, empire, and, above all, the ruthless pursuit of profit.

Edmond Smith

The Business of Conquest In 1756, the East India Company decided to strengthen its position in Kolkata by investing heavily in new fortifications. The Indian city had grown from only a few thousand people to around 400,000 in only fifty years – larger than any town in...

Tudor Merchants: Steven Veerapen Interviews Edmond Smith

The novelist and historian Steven Veerapen sat down with Tudor historian Edmond Smith to talk about his new book, Merchants

Edmond Smith

Edmond Smith, what inspired you to write about these early entrepreneurs, the subject of your new book, Merchants? My PhD set out to explore how individual investors shaped the infamous East India Company, but the more I dug into this, the more links I discovered with...

The Making of Global Britain

An early venture to Benin ended in failure, but the making of Global Britain was during the 16th century.

Edmond Smith

Abandoned on the banks of the Benin River in 1553, the first English merchants to travel to West Africa could only look back and reflect that, perhaps, their organisational strategy had not been very effective. Things had started well enough, with a painless departure...