Pirates, death and disaster:maintaining an Atlantic trade network in late-eighteenth century England

Downs, Carolyn (2011) Pirates, death and disaster:maintaining an Atlantic trade network in late-eighteenth century England. In: Cosmopolitan Networks in Commerce and Society. German Historical Institute London, London, pp. 343-377. ISBN 0269-8552

Abstract

The 21st Century may come to be considered as epitomising the networked and networking society with instantaneous communication and extensive networks considered an essential adjunct to entrepreneurship. However, this chapter uses the business correspondence of a late eighteenth century entrepreneur to explore the similarities between contemporary business networks and those conducted by letters carried across the Atlantic under conditions of war. It concludes that identical techniques and practices to those used electronically today were well established in the later eighteenth century and allowed entrepreneurs to develop effective business models that are still common today