Global Merchants
The Enterprise and Extravagance of the Sassoon Dynasty
«Sassoon's assiduous mining of the archives has produced a family history writ large ... the story of the Sassoons' rise from Ottoman Baghdadis to incalculably wealthy figures of the British Establishment is fascinating»
Anne de Courcy, Daily Telegraph
The first full history of the Sassoons, one of the nineteenth century's preeminent commercial families and 'the Rothschilds of the East'
The Sassoons were one of the great commercial dynasties of the nineteenth century, as eminent as traders as the Rothschilds were as bankers.
Les mer
Logg inn for å se din bonus
The first full history of the Sassoons, one of the nineteenth century's preeminent commercial families and 'the Rothschilds of the East'
The Sassoons were one of the great commercial dynasties of the nineteenth century, as eminent as traders as the Rothschilds were as bankers. In his rich and nuanced portrait of the family, Joseph Sassoon uncovers the secrets behind their phenomenal success- how a handful of Jewish refugees exiled from Ottoman Baghdad forged a mercantile juggernaut trading cotton and opium, the role of their vast network of agents, informants and politicians in extending their reach beyond their new home in India, bridging East and West.
Through the lives these ambitious figures built for themselves in Bombay, London and Shanghai, the reader is drawn into a captivating world of politics, business, society and empire - for their meteoric rise was facilitated by their ties to the British imperial project, and its waning coincided with their own. Utilising for the first time the family archives, which were largely written in an obscure Judeo-Arabic script indecipherable to previous historians, The Great Merchants is at once an intimate history of a single family across three generations and an extraordinary panorama, revealing their place in the world-historical developments of the 150 years of their prominence- from the American Civil War to the establishment of the British Raj, the Opium Wars to the Japanese occupation of China, and the true beginning of globalization in all its dimensions.
The Sassoons were one of the great commercial dynasties of the nineteenth century, as eminent as traders as the Rothschilds were as bankers. In his rich and nuanced portrait of the family, Joseph Sassoon uncovers the secrets behind their phenomenal success- how a handful of Jewish refugees exiled from Ottoman Baghdad forged a mercantile juggernaut trading cotton and opium, the role of their vast network of agents, informants and politicians in extending their reach beyond their new home in India, bridging East and West.
Through the lives these ambitious figures built for themselves in Bombay, London and Shanghai, the reader is drawn into a captivating world of politics, business, society and empire - for their meteoric rise was facilitated by their ties to the British imperial project, and its waning coincided with their own. Utilising for the first time the family archives, which were largely written in an obscure Judeo-Arabic script indecipherable to previous historians, The Great Merchants is at once an intimate history of a single family across three generations and an extraordinary panorama, revealing their place in the world-historical developments of the 150 years of their prominence- from the American Civil War to the establishment of the British Raj, the Opium Wars to the Japanese occupation of China, and the true beginning of globalization in all its dimensions.
Detaljer
- Forlag
- Allen Lane
- Innbinding
- Innbundet
- Språk
- Engelsk
- Sider
- 448
- ISBN
- 9780241388648
- Utgivelsesår
- 2022
- Format
- 24 x 16 cm
Anmeldelser
«Sassoon's assiduous mining of the archives has produced a family history writ large ... the story of the Sassoons' rise from Ottoman Baghdadis to incalculably wealthy figures of the British Establishment is fascinating»
Anne de Courcy, Daily Telegraph
«Logan Roy might do well to read The Global Merchants for tips ... a tale of commercial derring-do and dissection of the paperwork, the exigencies of calm, but rapid, decision-making that could could lead to boom or bust»
Paul French, South Morning China Post
«Methodical, deeply researched and presented with considered care ... Sassoon's book isn't just a marvellous yarn, it's an Ottoman 'Our Crowd' that gives his family its due'»
Adam Rathe, The New York Times
«A marvellous epitaph to a monumental family, makers of several worlds and keepers of none»
Norman Lebrecht, Wall Street Journal
«A tale reminiscent of Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks ... Not only is this a powerful human story but it also carries contemporary resonance in a time when great fortunes are again being made»
Stefan Wagstyl, Financial Times
«The engrossing story of the meteoric rise and calamitous fall of the Sassoons, set against the backdrop of peak British imperialism ... what a scintillating show it was while it lasted, as this vivid and richly researched book reveals»
Justin Marozzi, The Sunday Times
«A very readable, sensitive and original account of a remarkable family, deftly weaving together the history of the business, the history of the family and their place in the wider history of Britain, India and China»
David Abulafia, Spectator
Medlemmers vurdering
Skriv en vurdering
Oppdag mer
Bøker som ligner på Global Merchants:
One Hundred Years of Servitude – Political Economy of Tea Plantations in Colonial Assam
Rana BehalInnbundet
870,-