Perspective

Merchant Kings is a historical book recounted from the somewhat neutral perspective of the modern scholar, looking back at the events that shaped the past. Brown is a good storyteller with an ear for the interesting facts and his explanations are rooted in earlier histories, but he handles digressions well, and keeps his stories tight.

Brown's stories include the words and viewpoints of the subjects, and these are remarkably consistent on a few themes. For all of the men, the importance of the monopoly itself was paramount and civil or humane concerns were secondary. The men's ability bear up under pressure and conflict inured them to the sufferings of others, so they pushed their employees and exploited native people with impunity, with a philosophy that the spoils go to the stronger man.

Merchant Kings is set all over the world, from Indonesia to South Africa, the east and...