Dragons

Britain's rise to global dominance from the 16th century onwards owed as much to the vision and creative energies of traders, merchants, industrialists and bankers as it did to wars of conquest fought by empire-building military men.

Dragons tells the story of British business endeavour through the lives of ten titans of commerce. Beginning with the Tudor merchants who transformed England's economy via trade with the New World, Liam Byrne traces a golden line of British entrepreneurial genius through men such as Thomas Pitt, saviour of the East India Company; financier Nathan Rothschild, creator of the modern bond market; 'ethical capitalist' George Cadbury; and William Lever, brand-builder, philanthropist, and creator of Britain's first great multinational.

At the start of the 21st century Britain remains a major economic power. Dragons is both a rousing celebration of British business acumen and a fascinatingly informative narrative of a neglected but essential strand of our island's story.