Die Ostindienfahrer

The Seafarers

by Russell Miller

This volume in The Seafarers series presents a historical survey of the East India Company from 1600 to 1858.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Maritime

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1981

About the author

Russell Miller (born c. 1938) is a British journalist and author of fifteen books, including biographies of Hugh Hefner, J. Paul Getty and L. Ron Hubbard. While under contract to The Sunday Times Magazine he won four press awards and was voted Writer of the Year by the Society of British Magazine Editors.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great summary of how the English got into the spice and tea trade in Asia. Specifically the type of ship that was invented to facilitate this trade: the East Indiaman. As per usual with Time-Life books lots of great illustrations and factiods. I guess the passage to India was real thing that happened on these types of ships. Who knew?

[Jerel Wilmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and little known story about how a corporation and a seafaring technology allowed Great Britain to take control of the India subcontinent and dominate trade with China for more than a century. It traces the parallel rise of the East India Company and development of a kind of ship, the "East Indiaman," capable of maintaining a fabulously lucrative trade over thousands of miles in an age before radio, radar, or electronic direction finding. It also shows how, even as the ships were reaching the pinnacle of their development, the trade that created them was undermined by market forces and corruption in the management of the East India Company.

The book is an easy read and lavishly illustrated. It is very suitable for young adult readers.