Slavery, Atlantic Trade and the British Economy, 1660–1800. By Kenneth Morgan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Pp. ix, 120. $39.95, cloth; $11.95, paper.

Extract

This book is among the “New Studies in Economic and Social History” commissioned by the Economic History Society: a pedagogic series that aims to inform students and teachers about the most significant contributions to a given field of knowledge. Morgan's survey of the relationship between the growth of colonial trade and the development of the British economy is built around scholarly responses to Eric Williams's famous exercise in economic determinism, Capitalism and Slavery (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1944). In addition to covering the issues of capital accumulation and profitability in colonial trade, which preoccupied Williams, the scope of the inquiry is widened through the inclusion of material on colonial demand for exports, innovation in the organization of trade, and interport competition in Britain. The book is conscientiously written and provides an excellent non-technical introduction to the subject matter. Morgan's presentation of the material is always clear and objective, and yet, in the best tradition of the series, he imprints the text lightly but indelibly with his own judgements on the stimulus colonial trade gave to product and commercial innovation. Given the breadth of the topic and the limitations of space, some compression of material is unavoidable; still, the omission of the impact of the loss of colonies on economic performance is, perhaps, surprising. Much, however, can be learned by new and established scholars. This reviewer was reminded forcibly of three themes.