This collection of essays seeks to reflect the core of Furber's work. It covers the connectedness of private and company commerce, of servants of rival companies, of citizens of antagonistic nations or states, and of Europe's India trade and multinational private investments. 'This commemorative collection of papers is justified by present interest as well as intrinsic value...Furber shows us how history can be, indeed should be, an art as well as a science, even amid the toil of opening up a new field of study.' The Scottish Historical Review 'Although the last of Holden Furber's major writings appeared in the mid-1970s, his work has not only been very influential in the past but is still widely consulted. A collection of his essays, with the additional bonus of two pieces never previously published, is therefore most welcome.' The International History Review, Vol. XX, No. 2 'As ever, Variorum has provided a great service to scholars and students by publishing the collected works of a leading historian, in this case Holden Furber (1903"93) who, over the course of a lengthy career, established himself as an authority on European trade and imperialism in Asia during the eighteenth century. Our debt to Variorum and the editor is increased considerably on this occasion, because this collection of 14 articles and papers produced by Furber between 1935 and 1976 is drawn from a wide range of often inaccessible publications and includes two items published here for the first time. We are presented with a body of work which, in its totality, represents a major contribution to analysis of the dynamic forces behind, and the form taken by, the European presence in the East.' Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Vol. 26, No. 3 '... an important book. Full of sympathetic insights, written with enjoyment and scrupulous scholarship, it contains the mature reflections of a master, of his sources and of this craft.' The Mariner's Mirror