Selling Empire: India in the Making of Britain and America, 1600–1830

[...]imperial thinkers reimagined American colonists as consumers of Indian goods rather than producers of commodities comparable to those in India. "Unlike people in Britain," according to Eacott, "Atlantic colonists were to enjoy supposedly dangerous Indian luxuries without trading to India, without gaining the labor value added through manufacturing, and without cultivating Indian cotton for Britain" (116-17). Despite the book's Anglocentric focus, therefore, Eacott uncovers the history of the British Empire in its global context. [...]by appropriately incorporating elements of African slavery and Spanish American trade into his narrative, he completes his depiction of the empire in a global framework. By combining elements of imperial and global history, Eacott suggests new avenues for combining culture, commerce, and political economy in the British Empire.