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The Resource The inner life of empires : an eighteenth-century history, Emma Rothschild

The inner life of empires : an eighteenth-century history, Emma Rothschild

Creator
Summary
"They were abolitionists, speculators, slave owners, government officials, and occasional politicians. They were observers of the anxieties and dramas of empire. And they were from one family. The Inner Life of Empires tells the intimate history of the Johnstones--four sisters and seven brothers who lived in Scotland and around the globe in the fast-changing eighteenth century. Piecing together their voyages, marriages, debts, and lawsuits, and examining their ideas, sentiments, and values, renowned historian Emma Rothschild illuminates a tumultuous period that created the modern economy, the British Empire, and the philosophical Enlightenment. One of the sisters joined a rebel army, was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle, and escaped in disguise in 1746. Her younger brother was a close friend of Adam Smith and David Hume. Another brother was fluent in Persian and Bengali, and married to a celebrated poet. He was the owner of a slave known only as "Bell or Belinda, " who journeyed from Calcutta to Virginia, was accused in Scotland of infanticide, and was the last person judged to be a slave by a court in the British isles. In Grenada, India, Jamaica, and Florida, the Johnstones embodied the connections between European, American, and Asian empires. Their family history offers insights into a time when distinctions between the public and private, home and overseas, and slavery and servitude were in constant flux. Based on multiple archives, documents, and letters, The Inner Life of Empires looks at one family's complex story to describe the origins of the modern political, economic, and intellectual world"--
Language
eng
Work
Instance
Label
The inner life of empires : an eighteenth-century history
Title
The inner life of empires
Title remainder
an eighteenth-century history
Statement of responsibility
Emma Rothschild
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"They were abolitionists, speculators, slave owners, government officials, and occasional politicians. They were observers of the anxieties and dramas of empire. And they were from one family. The Inner Life of Empires tells the intimate history of the Johnstones--four sisters and seven brothers who lived in Scotland and around the globe in the fast-changing eighteenth century. Piecing together their voyages, marriages, debts, and lawsuits, and examining their ideas, sentiments, and values, renowned historian Emma Rothschild illuminates a tumultuous period that created the modern economy, the British Empire, and the philosophical Enlightenment. One of the sisters joined a rebel army, was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle, and escaped in disguise in 1746. Her younger brother was a close friend of Adam Smith and David Hume. Another brother was fluent in Persian and Bengali, and married to a celebrated poet. He was the owner of a slave known only as "Bell or Belinda, " who journeyed from Calcutta to Virginia, was accused in Scotland of infanticide, and was the last person judged to be a slave by a court in the British isles. In Grenada, India, Jamaica, and Florida, the Johnstones embodied the connections between European, American, and Asian empires. Their family history offers insights into a time when distinctions between the public and private, home and overseas, and slavery and servitude were in constant flux. Based on multiple archives, documents, and letters, The Inner Life of Empires looks at one family's complex story to describe the origins of the modern political, economic, and intellectual world"--
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Biography type
collective biography
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1948-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Rothschild, Emma
Dewey number
929/.209171241
Illustrations
maps
Index
index present
LC call number
JV1027
LC item number
.R68 2011
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Great Britain
  • Johnston family
  • Scotland
Label
The inner life of empires : an eighteenth-century history, Emma Rothschild
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
1300707
Dimensions
23 cm.
Extent
ix, 483 pages
Isbn
9780691148953
Isbn Type
(hardback)
Lccn
2010054189
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
maps
System control number
  • (Sirsi) 1300707
  • (OCoLC)687686032
Label
The inner life of empires : an eighteenth-century history, Emma Rothschild
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
1300707
Dimensions
23 cm.
Extent
ix, 483 pages
Isbn
9780691148953
Isbn Type
(hardback)
Lccn
2010054189
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
maps
System control number
  • (Sirsi) 1300707
  • (OCoLC)687686032

Subject

Genre

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