Empires: Europe and Globalization, 1492-1788. This item is unavailable.Empires: Europe and Globalization, 1492-1788

This first -- and only--account of the main events and interpreetations of the globalization between Columbus and the settlement of Australia, considers the psychological and economic imperatives which created the great empires of Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Great Britain. The theme of globalization becomes increasingly relevant as the consequences of these initiatives become globally evident. Empires provides a pathway through much recent writing on Europe's imperial past, rejecting polarized views of imperialist protagonists as either civilizing agents or criminals against humanity and proposing a balanced--if note entirely benign--view of European expansion in terms of planetary integration, rather than colonization.

"Empire is a brilliant study. We all need to read it carefully." -- Bruce Hodgins, Emeritus Professor of History, Trent University,Ontario, Canada