Enterprise and Empire : Merchant and Gentry Investment in the Expansion of England, 1575-1630

Theodore Rabb presents an analysis of the activities of the more than 6,000 investors who financed the beginning of England’s overseas expansion. Over 1,100 gentry joined London’s merchants in this effort, creating an alliance of major importance in English social and economic history. With the aid of a computer, systematic evaluation of hitherto unmanageable material became possible, and Rabb’s study—the first of its kind of so early a period—will be of added interest to many historians in that the techniques and problems of using a computer are discussed at length. The list of investors, with social, parliamentary, and investment data, is included in the book. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CONTENTS TABLES INTRODUCTION Part One. Patterns of Investment CHAPTER 1. “THE PATH TO FAME, THE PROOFE OF ZEALE, AND WAY TO PURCHASE GOLDE” CHAPTER 2. SOME DETAILED FIGURES Part Two. The Data CHAPTER 3. METHODS AND DEFINITIONS SOURCES AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX THE LIST OF NAMES INDEX