by William Dalrymple
“Dalrymple is a superb historian with a visceral understanding of India… a book of rare beauty,” writes Gerard DeGroot in The Times—a fitting tribute to this powerful work. In August 1765, the East India Company defeated a young Mughal emperor and compelled him to establish a new system of administration across his wealthiest provinces. Governed not by a state but by English merchants, this regime relied on a ruthless private army to collect taxes and enforce control. In doing so, the East India Company underwent a dramatic transformation—from a global trading enterprise into something far more extraordinary and dangerous: a multinational corporation functioning as a colonial power. In this compelling narrative, William Dalrymple reveals the story of the East India Company as it has never been told before. Drawing on rich historical detail, he presents a timely and unsettling account of the world’s first great corporate empire, offering a cautionary tale about the immense power of global corporations and the lasting consequences of unchecked ambition.
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