
The Corporation That Changed the World: How the East India Company Shaped the Modern Multinational (Paperback)
Nick Robins (author)
£16.99
Paperback
280 Pages /
Published: 05/10/2012
- In stock
This is the history of the East India Company and its enduring legacy as a corporation, dealing in exploitation and violence.
The English East India Company was the mother of the modern multinational. Its trading empire encircled the globe, importing Asian luxuries such as spices, textiles and teas. But it also conquered much of India with its private army and broke open China's markets with opium. The Company's practices shocked its contemporaries and still reverberate today.
This expanded edition explores how the four forces of scale, technology, finance and regulation drove its spectacular rise and fall. This story provides vital lessons on both the role of corporations in world history and the steps required to make global business accountable today.
The English East India Company was the mother of the modern multinational. Its trading empire encircled the globe, importing Asian luxuries such as spices, textiles and teas. But it also conquered much of India with its private army and broke open China's markets with opium. The Company's practices shocked its contemporaries and still reverberate today.
This expanded edition explores how the four forces of scale, technology, finance and regulation drove its spectacular rise and fall. This story provides vital lessons on both the role of corporations in world history and the steps required to make global business accountable today.
Publisher: Pluto Press
ISBN: 9780745331959
Number of pages: 280
Weight: 343 g
Dimensions: 215 x 135 x 20 mm
Edition: 2nd edition
MEDIA REVIEWS
'A powerful analysis of the rise and fall of the British East India Company, a private company that conquered a subcontinent and subjugated an entire people' -- Huw Bowen, Professor of Imperial and Maritime History, Swansea University
'Elegantly written and sharply argued, Nick Robins' gripping account of the rise and fall of the English East India Company brings to life a crucial episode in the history of globalisation' -- Sankar Muthu, Princeton University
'The East India Company might have been relegated to the dustbin of history, but Robins digs it out, looks into the nooks and crannies, and comes up with plenty of insights that today's managers will find rich and rewarding' -- Mick Blowfield, Senior Research Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Oxford University, co-author of Corporate Responsibility (2011)
'Nick Robins' history of astonishing corporate greed, excess and abuse of power is brilliantly told, and perfectly timed' -- Isabel Hilton, Editor of China Dialogue
'A brilliant, important contribution to an understanding of development and poverty' -- Mari Marcel Thekaekara, New Internationalist
'Elegantly written and sharply argued, Nick Robins' gripping account of the rise and fall of the English East India Company brings to life a crucial episode in the history of globalisation' -- Sankar Muthu, Princeton University
'The East India Company might have been relegated to the dustbin of history, but Robins digs it out, looks into the nooks and crannies, and comes up with plenty of insights that today's managers will find rich and rewarding' -- Mick Blowfield, Senior Research Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Oxford University, co-author of Corporate Responsibility (2011)
'Nick Robins' history of astonishing corporate greed, excess and abuse of power is brilliantly told, and perfectly timed' -- Isabel Hilton, Editor of China Dialogue
'A brilliant, important contribution to an understanding of development and poverty' -- Mari Marcel Thekaekara, New Internationalist
You may also be interested in...
Please sign in to write a review
Sign In / Register
Not registered? CREATE AN ACCOUNTCREATE A plus ACCOUNT
Sign In
Download the Waterstones App
Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App?
Click & Collect
Reserve online, pay on collection.
Please note that owing to current COVID-19 restrictions, many of our shops are closed. Find out more by clicking here.
Please note that owing to current COVID-19 restrictions, many of our shops are closed. Find out more by clicking here.
Thank you for your reservation
Your order is now being processed and we have sent a confirmation email to you at
When will my order be ready to collect?
Following the initial email, you will be contacted by the shop to confirm that your item is available for collection.
Call us on or send us an email at
Unfortunately there has been a problem with your order
Please try again or alternatively you can contact your chosen shop on or send us an email at