Free trade has become a highly politicized term, but its origins, historical context, and application to policy decisions have been largely overlooked. This book examines the relationship between liberal political economy and the changing conception of empire in the eighteenth century,...

"This volume recasts our understanding of the practical and theoretical foundations and dynamic experiences of early modern imperialism. The imperial encounter with political economy was neither uniform across political, economic, cultural, and religious constellations nor static across time....