The Web Of Empire: English Cosmopolitans In An Age Of Expansion, 1560-1660 Hardcover

Alison Games

How did England go from a position of inferiority to the powerful Spanish empire to achieve global pre-eminence? In this important second book, Alison Games, a colonial American historian, explores the period from 1560 to 1660, when England challenged dominion over the American continents, established new long-distance trade routes in the eastern Mediterranean and the East Indies, and emerged in the 17th century as an empire to reckon with. Games discusses such topics as the men and women who built the colonial enterprise, the political and fiscal factors that made such growth possible, and domestic politics that fueled commercial expansion. Her cast of characters includes soldiers and diplomats, merchants and mariners, ministers and colonists, governors and tourists, revealing the surprising breath of foreign experiences ordinary English people had in this period. This book is also unusual in stretching outside Europe to include Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. A comparative imperial study and expansive world history, this book makes a lasting argument about the formative years of the English empire.

9780195335545

English

Oxford University Press Inc

15 Jul 2008

400

Alison Games is Dorothy M. Brown Distinguished Professor of History, Georgetown University. She is the author of Migration and the Origins of the English Atlantic World and co-author of The Atlantic World: A History, 1400-1888.

from start to finish, this is an argumentative book written in accessible prose, which is certain to generate debate, stimulate challenges, and consolidate the reputation of Alison Games as one of the most accomplished scholars writing today on England's North American World within the context of its more general expansion overseas. * Nicholas Canny, English Historical Review * [Games'] provocative book should inspire future debate and stimulate additional scholarship on the extent to which human agency influenced early modern imperial expansion. * Christopher P. Magra, Northern Mariner * an interesting and well-researched book full of unique insights, engaging anecdotes, and interesting case studies. * Ronald J. Fritze, Sixteenth Century Journal * a masterful analysis of the early and often-overlooked history of the British empire * Roland H. Bainton Prize Committee * Wonderful...it is pleasing to encounter a book that focuses on well-wrought, well-researched stories. * Jonathan Wright, Journal of European Studies, 39(4) *