Many books have addressed the economic and financial history of Hong Kong, and the imperialist conflicts in the key Chinese port-cities but very few books have explored French initiatives and performance in this area, beyond diplomacy, geopolitics or cultural issues. In this book, Hubert Bonin confronts arguments about "the great divergence", "the first globalisation", and forms of "economic patriotism". He gauges the competitive edge of French companies and banks, their struggle with British domination (HBSC, Chartered, shipping, trade houses/hongs) and their resistance against competitors from other countries (Japan, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, USA, or Russia). The book delves into studies of management abroad, therefore mixing broad geo-economic issues with precise business history and deep banking history. The connections between French interests in China and Hong Kong and the colony of Indochina are established too. A second part of the book is dedicated to the case study of Hong Kong, as the British colony acted as a hub for Asian and European interests at the heart of connections with mainland China and some neighbouring territories (Indochina, etc.). This is essential reading for academics interested in banking and business history, the history of entrepreneurship, as well as, those involved in the contemporary history of China and Hong Kong, in the assessment of world-wide geo-economic competition between European powers in Asia (Great-Britain, and France), and in the first stages of economic "modernity", along European models, in emerging modern China.

China has long been an object of fascination for the French, who celebrated theirannee de la Chine in 2004. Symptomatic of that fascination are the movements into China made by groups as diverse as the Jesuits, who arrived inL'Empire du Milieu in the late seventeenth century, and theTel Quel intellectuals, whose will to political pilgrimage took th

This volume brings together leading business and banking historians to examine the role and development of banks in Asia in the 19th and 20th centuries. It discusses both the overseas operations of European banks and the development of Asian (notably Japanese and Hong Kong) banks.

Placing the controversial globalization process in historical context, DeWitt brings this increasingly important topic to life through the experiences of the two most populous states of the Western Hemisphere—Brazil and the United States. Comparing their development processes from the Colonial Era to 1900, he highlights the dramatically different consequences that are incorporated into the world economy for these two states. Sharing similar experiences during the Colonial Era, the countries' internal differences and differing relationships with Great Britain, the economic superpower of the 19th century, led to very different development paths. By 1900, the United States had become a member of the economic core, while Brazil remained mired in the semi-periphery. Pointing out the similarities and differences in the economic development of the United States and Brazil, DeWitt emphasizes that the manner of incorporation into the world economy greatly affected one becoming a superpower and the other remaining a developing nation. This book offers unique insights into globalization, economic development, and the histories of the United States and Brazil.

In Imperial Gateway, Seiji Shirane explores the political, social, and economic significance of colonial Taiwan in the southern expansion of Japan's empire from 1895 to the end of World War II. Challenging understandings of empire that focus on bilateral relations between metropole and colonial periphery, Shirane uncovers a half century of dynamic relations between Japan, Taiwan, China, and Western regional powers. Japanese officials in Taiwan did not simply take orders from Tokyo; rather, they often pursued their own expansionist ambitions in South China and Southeast Asia. When outright conquest was not possible, they promoted alternative strategies, including naturalizing resident Chinese as overseas Taiwanese subjects, extending colonial police networks, and deploying tens of thousands of Taiwanese to war. The Taiwanese—merchants, gangsters, policemen, interpreters, nurses, and soldiers—seized new opportunities for socioeconomic advancement that did not always align with Japan's imperial interests. Drawing on multilingual archives in six countries, Imperial Gateway shows how Japanese officials and Taiwanese subjects transformed Taiwan into a regional gateway for expansion in an ever-shifting international order. Thanks to generous funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities Open Book Program and its participation in TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem), the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellpress.cornell.edu/cornell-open) and other repositories.

"Is Paris Still the Capital of the Nineteenth Century?" The question that guides this volume stems from Walter Benjamin's studies of nineteenth-century Parisian culture as the apex of capitalist aesthetics. Thirteen scholars test Benjamin's ideas about the centrality of Paris, formulated in the 1930s, from a variety of methodological perspectives. Many investigate the underpinnings of the French capital's reputation and mythic force, which was based largely upon the city's capacity to put itself on display. Some of the authors reassess the famed centrality of Paris from the vantage point of our globalized twenty-first century by acknowledging its entanglements with South Africa, Turkey, Japan, and the United States. The volume equally studies a broader range of media than Benjamin did himself: from modernist painting and printmaking, photography, and illustration to urban planning. The essays conclude that Paris did in many ways function as the epicenter of modernity's international reach, especially in the years from 1850 to 1900, but did so only as a consequence of the idiosyncratic force of its mythic image. Above all, the essays affirm that the study of late nineteenth-century Paris still requires nimble and innovative approaches commensurate with its legend and global aura.

Until now we have only had relatively narrow economic studies comparing investments in railways with investments in other fields of individual economies. 'Across the Borders' not only opens the door for fundamental new insights into a trans-national view of railway history, but also contributes to a breakthrough in the wider study of the subject, providing the first extensive historical investigation of the worldwide system of railway financing. This book provides a wide introduction to how financiers, governments and entrepreneurs in Europe managed to face the challenges of constructing and maintaining an integrated railway network, both in their own countries and their colonies. This volume offers analysis from a selection of experts exploring the trans-national investment policies of railway construction based on numerous historical case-studies. The chapters provide insight into the international opportunities that existed for railway financing, from the perspective of economic, social, transport and railway history. With contributions from authors from 19 countries the volume is a truly international work that will be of interest to academic researchers, museum staff, archivists, and anyone who has an interest in the history and development of railways.

"Western Power in Asia is a unique contribution to the understanding of present-day Asia. Essential reading for anyone interested in world history, Arthur Cotterell offers fascinating insights into five hundred extraordinary years of power and influence by the West, which disappeared spectacularly after the Second World War. The author's ability to tell both sides of the story, with the aid of contemporary illustrations as well as quotations, makes this book a tremendous resource for students of Asian history. And because the entire colonial experience is covered for the first time within a single volume, Western Power in Asia also provides the general reader with an unusual and invaluable perspective on East-West relations." --Book Jacket.

Empire’s Tracks boldly reframes the history of the transcontinental railroad from the perspectives of the Cheyenne, Lakota, and Pawnee Native American tribes, and the Chinese migrants who toiled on its path. In this meticulously researched book, Manu Karuka situates the railroad within the violent global histories of colonialism and capitalism. Through an examination of legislative, military, and business records, Karuka deftly explains the imperial foundations of U.S. political economy. Tracing the shared paths of Indigenous and Asian American histories, this multisited interdisciplinary study connects military occupation to exclusionary border policies, a linked chain spanning the heart of U.S. imperialism. This highly original and beautifully wrought book unveils how the transcontinental railroad laid the tracks of the U.S. Empire.