The Indian Saltpeter Trade, the Military Revolution, and the Rise of Britain as a Global Superpower

Frey examines the history of saltpeter, a primary ingredient in the manufacture of gunpowder, and the importance of India as a supplier of saltpeter in the growth of the British Empire's economic and military power. Saltpeter was such a common cargo on merchant ships that sailors referred to its sewage-like odor as "the smell of the ship".