Nick Robins

The East India Company story is fascinating, and I decided to make it one of my fields of study in 2024.

Most books about the East India Company (EIC) focus on its rise in India, its corruption, and its bad management. This book is different in that Nick Robins analyzed it from a 'corporate' perspective and drew parallels to today's neo-liberal culture. My only gripe is that he did not pay sufficient attention to its role in China. I would have liked more detail on that story, but he gave me a good enough foundation for further research in 2024.

If you are interested in the EIC, then read this book.… (meer)

This is a fabulously hit and miss book.

The good:

* Probably the most highlighted book I currently own -- long stretches of the book, especially on Plassay and Clive, are pure gold.
* Incredibly well sources and referenced.
* Index and bibliography is amazing.
* Great detail on incredibly fine minutae, which I adore out of a history book.
* Hilariously opinionated.

The bad:

* Terribly organized. The chapters are in some kind of linear order but the book itself careens like a car out of control back and forth through time. I would read a paragraph and go "what century was this in?"
* Expects the reader already to be an expert on John Company. It just leaves out various and crucial details like who some of these people were and why we care -- it just is like "And X did Blah blah terrible thing."
* The last chapter is totally worthless.
* Can be a real dry read in places.

So if you're doing heavy research on the British East India Company yes, you should add this to your reference library. Absolutely. If this is your first book on the subject, more intro and readable books exist.… (meer)

If you are from any Asian countries, then you probably have been taught about British Empire –– Yet, in History class, it doesn't go in depth about the root of the those problems. The Picture we get from Indian history is that British were bad, ruthless. However, it's the Board in English East India Company, investors who were responsible for decisions. There were many critics of EIC within the EIC, however they were dismissed or silenced. The EIC was the largest corporation in history.

Reading this book will help you dive more into what was going on inside the Company, the problems faced, monopolies and decision makers for Company. Overall, an excellent book to understand more about Corporations. I also recommend Jawaharlal Nehru's book to understand the Indian perspective.

--Deus Vult
Gottfreid… (meer)