The East Indies Company grew from an Elizabethan business venture to eventually manage half of international trade, leading on to British rule in India and establishing British business and imperial interests in China and South East Asia. Monsoon Traders recounts the story of the company over three centuries, covering its origins, the maritime expertise, encounters with native peoples, merchandise traded, wealth created, technology, maritime industry, conflict and conquest. Monsoon Traders is illustrated throughout with pictures from the National Maritime museum in London,which possesses a crucial yet heretofore under-researched assortment of objects concerning the company. Along with knowledgeable texts by three leading historians within the field, these combine to portray the story of the East India Company's encounter with the Indian Ocean and also the effects this had on both Asian and British societies, individuals and politics.
