358. Spice Wars: The Rise of the Dutch East India Company (Ep 1)
5/10/202651 min
What’s the real story behind the creation of the Dutch East India Company, and how was espionage involved? What made the VOC the first ‘mega-corporation’ in history? And what was the horrific human cost of establishing a colonial stronghold in the East Indies? Get the entire Dutch Empire miniseries early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com William is joined by Dutch historian Herold van der Linde to explore the staggering rise of the Dutch East India Company - a company so rich it eclipsed the modern valuations of Apple and NVIDIA combined. They discuss how high-stakes espionage, revolutionary cargo ships, and military ruthlessness allowed the Dutch to dominate the 17th-century global economy. For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com. Email: empire@goalhanger.com Instagram: @empirepoduk Blue Sky: @empirepoduk X: @empirepoduk Assistant Producer: Imogen Marriott Social Producer: Charlie Johnson Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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First 90 secondsWilliam Dalrymple· Host0:00
If you want access to bonus episodes, reading lists for every series of Empire, a chat community, discounts for all the books mentioned in the week's podcast, ad-free listening and a weekly newsletter, sign up to Empire Club at www.empirepoduk.com.
Speaker 2· Host0:18
Edwina Mountbatten died in the jungles of Borneo. The year was 1960, and she was all alone. Well, alone, I say, except she was surrounded by letters, and they weren't letters, as you might think, from her husband, Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India. No, these were letters from the man that she truly loved, the scourge of the British Empire, the first prime minister of a free India. His name was Jawaharlal Nehru. Now, this fascinating love triangle is so pertinent when it comes to pre-Partition India politics, and we're gonna be delving right in in a miniseries, a four-parter for you, and it's only available to members of our club. So if that isn't you, what you need to do is right away get to empirepoduk.com. That's empirepoduk.com, and for the price of a coffee, come join our club. And as if you needed any more incentive, let me tell you, our very special guest is the marvelous Alex von Tunzelmann, who is the author of Indian Summer. So what are you waiting for? Come on.
Herold van der Linde· Guest1:26
So good, so good,