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London's Triumph

Audiobook
Nonfiction: History
Unabridged   11 hour(s)
Publication date: 08/13/2019

London's Triumph

Merchants, Adventurers, and Money in Shakespeare's City

Available from major retailers or BUY FROM AMAZON
Audio CD ISBN:9781681688114
Digital Download ISBN:9781681688121

Summary

For most, England in the sixteenth century was the era of the Tudors, from Henry VII and VIII to Elizabeth I. But as their dramas played out at court, England was being transformed economically by the astonishing discoveries of the New World and of direct sea routes to Asia.

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Product Description

At the start of the sixteenth century, England was hardly involved in the wider world and London remained a gloomy, introverted medieval city. But as the century progressed something extraordinary happened, which placed London at the center of the world stage forever.

Stephen Alford's evocative, original new book uses the same skills that made his widely-praised The Watchers so successful, bringing to life the network of merchants, visionaries, crooks, and sailors who changed London and England forever. In a sudden explosion of energy, English ships were suddenly found all over the world—trading with Russia and the Levant, exploring Virginia and the Arctic, and fanning out across the Indian Ocean. The people who made this possible—the families, the guild members, the money-men who were willing to risk huge sums and sometimes their own lives in pursuit of the rare, exotic, and desirable—are as interesting as any of those at court. Their ambitions fueled a new view of the world—initiating a long era of trade and empire, the consequences of which still resonate today.

Reviews/Praise

"Alford makes expert use of individual lives to bring London's various stages to life . . . These and many other stories bring the past to life in warmly human terms, as do Alford's evocative descriptions of the city's changing landscape and architecture . . . Solid scholarly history written with an accessible verve that will appeal to general readers."—Kirkus Reviews

"In this fascinating history of Tudor London, Alford helps readers to recognize the most significant of this burgeoning municipality's stones and men and to tease out the globe-shaping meaning of its dynamic buzz . . . Renaissance urban life unfolds as stirring drama."—Booklist, Starred Review

"Alford eloquently shows how Renaissance merchants and global exploration allowed London to come of age, transforming from a city subordinate to other European hubs into an ambitious player with financial might. It’s a vibrant depiction of London’s rising merchant class during the Tudor era." —Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

Stephen Alford is the author of the highly acclaimed The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.