Economic History

The Years Before the Stock Exchange

Nicholas Lane examines how, during the century before the London Stock Exchange acquired a building of its own in 1773, brokers met and transacted business in the coffee houses of Exchange Alley

The Foundation of the Bank of England

Nicholas Lane discusses the reasons of business and war that led to the establishment of a national bank in London in 1694.

The Tents of Kedar: Pre-European Africa

Despite its isolation from the mainstream of human development, Basil Davidson writes, African society before the coming of the Europeans was neither savage nor stagnant.

The Fur Empires of the North

George Woodcock describes the industry, expeditions, and characters that opened the American North West to European development.

The Beginnings of the English Newspaper

Graham Dukes traces the birth of the press to the English Civil War period.

Illustration of the Demerara rebellion of 1823

The History of El Dorado: British Guiana Since 1600

Charles Dimont traces the establishment and development of Britain's South American dependency.

Prelude to Independence: The American Colonies in the Eighteenth Century

Eric Robson provides the social and economic backdrop to the outbreak of revolutionary war between the nascent USA and her British colonial masters.

The Steelyard of London Since the Twelfth Century

L.W. Cowie explains how the Hansard merchants from northern Germany maintained their own Community in London from medieval times until 1852.

Gold-Rush Banker: Falconer Larkworthy

Patricia Wright profiles Falconer Larkworthy, a man who served in the banks of both Australia and New Zealand during the great Gold Rush of the 1850s.