 The Honourable Company
by John Keay
The drug industry is major worldwide conglomerate
of intertwined business interests. The information in this book is integral
to an accurate understanding of what is going on today under the names
of "big business", "finance" and "monopolistic capitalism". Too often the
interests of "business" supersede the interests of the public. This is
true in many aspects of the pharmaceutical industry including psychiatry,
cancer, AIDs and more. It was also true when the East India Company developed
the first widespread militaristic monopoly on the opium production of India
and forcefully exported it for many years, at incredible profits, to China.
The power and expansion of Great Britain could not have occurred without
the incredible profits earned off the the suffering of the addicted opium
population of China. The fact that a major world power funded and directed
drug production and use, under force, should be understood not as a unique
and rare instance of historical international business immorality, but
as a par-for-the-course attitude of modern mega-corporate capitalism. Upper-crust,
"decent", and "honourable" folks spent much time and energy ensuring an
entire country was addicted to opium. The CIA has protected and assisted
cocaine and heroin production for many years. There IS something going
on here, and it is not what the media would have us believe.
Reviews
From Booklist, April 1, 1994
Conventional wisdom has it that the commercial
imperialism of the early English trading companies was intertwined with
the political imperialism of the expanding British empire. In this reexamination
of the English East India Company, Keay, an author and broadcaster specializing
in Asian history, acknowledges that "but for the Company there would have
been not only no British India but also no global British Empire." But
he also shows that the triumph of imperialism helped bring about the downfall
of the company by eliminating its monopolies and creating conditions for
the 1857 Indian mutiny. Keay's title is intentionally ironic; he reports,
"venal and disreputable, [the company's] servants were believed to have
betrayed their race by begetting a half caste tribe of Anglo-Indians, and
their nation by corrupt government and extortionate trade." Published two
years ago in Britain and cited as one of that year's three best books by
the Financial Times (London), The Honourable Company fascinatingly
illuminates one of the lesser-known chapters of Asian history. David
Rouse - Copyright© 1994, American Library Association. All rights
reserved
Synopsis
The most infamous of the trading companies
established by the great European powers, the English East India Company
was the world's greatest trading power. For more than two centuries, they
dominated world trade, raised armies and demolished nations. Now comes
this major new book - surprise hit in England. Photos and maps.
Customer Comments
chasgray@compuserve.com
from London, England . . . where else?, September 18, 1998
The embryonic basis of the English Speaking
Empire - PERIOD.
This book beautifully reveals the nucleus
of all that is present day England, and illustrates the basis of the English
Empire and the export of that philosophy to the USA. In short, this book
exposés the foundations of modern day Anglo-Saxon economic imperialism.
This is where it ALL started. From here you can go on to the books by Peter
C. Newman about the Hudson Bay Company, and more close to home, and equally
fascinating, a whole series of books about the Great
Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk.
From here you have a great series of books to read - but start with Keay's
masterpiece. You'll say - why haven't I heard of this before.
A reader, May 8, 1997
Comment for researchers
This is one of the few books on the East
India Company that devotes attention to what the author refers to as the
Company's "Dark Ages," the early decades of the 18th century when the foundations
for the "achievements" of men like Clive were being laid.
A reader, April 4, 1997
Good book
A good book describing the ascendance of
the British in the East Indies and specifically India. The author suggests
that the British colonial conquests in Asia were not a result of a 2 century
long plan but a result of policy mishaps and strategic positioning against
the Dutch and then the French during 17th, 18th and the first quarter of
the 19th centuries. The story of the main protagonist - a bungling group
of shareholders and directors - is very well woven into the political background.
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