From the mid-seventeenth century to the 1830s, successful gentry capitalists created an extensive business empire centered on slavery in the West Indies, but inter-linked with North America, Africa, and Europe S D Smith examines the formation of this British Atlantic World from the perspective of Yorkshire aristocratic families who invested озкжш in the West Indies At the heart of the book lies a case study of the plantation-owning Lascelles and the commercial and cultural network they created with their associates The Lascelles exhibited high levels of business innovation and were accomplished risk-takers, overcoming daunting obstacles to make fortunes out of the New World Dr Smith shows how the family raised themselves first to super-merchant status and then to aristocratic pre-eminence He also explores the tragic consequences for enslaved Africans with chapters devoted to the slave populations and interracial relations This widely-researched book sheds new light on the networks and the culture of imperialism.  Valiant2006 г Твердый переплет, 396 стр ISBN 0521863384.