London's Triumph
Merchants, Adventurers, and Money in Shakespeare's City

London’s Triumph is a vibrant and nuanced account of the rise of mercantilism in 16th century Elizabethan London. Stephen Alford traces the rise of London from a third tier city in the early 16th century to, as Elizabethan England became Jacobean England, the premiere trade and commerce hub in Europ......more

I received London's Triumph as part of a Goodreads giveaway. London's Triumph explores London's (and England's) enormous growth, both in population and prestige, during Shakespeare's time (broadly, the 16th century and the early decades of the 17th). In particular, it looks at the lives of merchants......more

This book delves into the history of Elizabethan London by looking at how merchants and their money and trade expeditions shaped the city. It's a very interesting and, I believe, incredibly important perspective. The author used plenty of great sources, including plays, poems, travel journals, churc......more

An excellent book that discusses exactly what is say on the tin - merchants and the city of London from c. 1500 to c. 1620. Alford attempts to tell the story through lesser-known characters, and interweaves stories of the big merchants - the Greshams, the Smythes, etc - with those of the working inh......more

An interesting read of the growth of London in the sixteenth century. Alford presents London in 1500 as marginal and underwhelming; Paris had more people, Antwerp had bigger markets, Augsburg had bankers and Florence had art. At the dawn of the 1600s, London had come into its own through global expl......more