Prelude: The Scotland of Their Birth -- 1 Origins -- 2 Sailing from London to Canton -- 3 The Sirens of Commerce -- 4 The Heirs of Cox and Beale -- 5 Doing Business at Creek Hong -- 6 Charting New Waters -- 7 The Partners Apart -- 8 Approaching the Showdown in China -- 9 Jardine's Farewell and Matheson's Great Headache -- 10 Jardine's and Matheson's Roles in the Opium War -- 11 Their Lives after China -- 12 Sir James Matheson, Laird of Lewis -- Postlude: Gentlemanly Capitalists?
Summary
In 1832 William Jardine and James Matheson established what would become the greatest British trading company in East Asia in the nineteenth century. This book explores the depths of each man, their complicated and sometimes inconsistent internal workings, and their achievements and failures.