It has been ten years now since this remarkable book was first published, and a testament to its vitality that you can still pick it up in the Hong Kong airport bookshops. No musty tome this. An understanding of the English East India Company is crucial to comprehending the shape of Asia today.
The Company was a mercantilist venture that monopolized trade in and out of England to the East Indies, a broad term meaning anything from Turkey to Japan. King Elizabeth granted its first royal charter in 1600 when it was known as the 'Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies'.
It left two legacies, neither ever the vision of...
