This book explores the nineteenth century roots of globalisation through the activities of the enterprise network created by the Scottish merchant, William Mackinnon. It follows the rise of the family-led business group from its modest origins in Scotland to its transformation into the world's largest maritime and mercantile conglomerate, tracingthe history of the various shipping firms within the group - including the British India, Netherlands India and Australasian United companies - and identifies the key factors behind its domination of coastal steamshipping around the Indian Ocean and in
