Edmond Smith
@edmond-smith.bsky.social
Historian of globalisation, capitalism and economic cultures | Professor at The University of Manchester | Director of the Centre for Economic Cultures
I’m excited and humbled that my new book Ruthless is finally out in the world 🎉
It explores how exploitation, innovation, and empire shaped the birth of the Britain's industrial revolution.
📖 It’s out now (and £12.50 this month in Yale's November sale): yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
It explores how exploitation, innovation, and empire shaped the birth of the Britain's industrial revolution.
📖 It’s out now (and £12.50 this month in Yale's November sale): yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
November 5, 2025 at 12:05 PM
I’m excited and humbled that my new book Ruthless is finally out in the world 🎉
It explores how exploitation, innovation, and empire shaped the birth of the Britain's industrial revolution.
📖 It’s out now (and £12.50 this month in Yale's November sale): yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
It explores how exploitation, innovation, and empire shaped the birth of the Britain's industrial revolution.
📖 It’s out now (and £12.50 this month in Yale's November sale): yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
I'm hosting a celebration to launch my new book #Ruthless on 6 November at Daunt Books on Cheapside. There are still some spaces left and if anyone would like an invite please drop me a message and I will add you to the guest list!
Wine, books and history - what better way to spend an evening!
Wine, books and history - what better way to spend an evening!
October 16, 2025 at 10:13 AM
I'm hosting a celebration to launch my new book #Ruthless on 6 November at Daunt Books on Cheapside. There are still some spaces left and if anyone would like an invite please drop me a message and I will add you to the guest list!
Wine, books and history - what better way to spend an evening!
Wine, books and history - what better way to spend an evening!
Thrilled to share early endorsements for #Ruthless!
Huge thanks to @sathnam.bsky.social, Emma Griffin, @antonhowes.bsky.social, William Pettigrew, and Nicholas Radburn for their generous words.
yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
Huge thanks to @sathnam.bsky.social, Emma Griffin, @antonhowes.bsky.social, William Pettigrew, and Nicholas Radburn for their generous words.
yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
September 4, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Thrilled to share early endorsements for #Ruthless!
Huge thanks to @sathnam.bsky.social, Emma Griffin, @antonhowes.bsky.social, William Pettigrew, and Nicholas Radburn for their generous words.
yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
Huge thanks to @sathnam.bsky.social, Emma Griffin, @antonhowes.bsky.social, William Pettigrew, and Nicholas Radburn for their generous words.
yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
Working in the John Rylands this week with a restored check-cotton sample book. These are two microscopic images of dyed and bleached cotton with origins in American plantations used in designs which were likely destined for African markets.
August 19, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Working in the John Rylands this week with a restored check-cotton sample book. These are two microscopic images of dyed and bleached cotton with origins in American plantations used in designs which were likely destined for African markets.
It's always a great feeling to unpack author copies, but bittersweet for this book I "co-authored" with Richard Smith at the request of his widow after he sadly passed. Hopefully it will serve as a worthy finale and inspire students today as much as his work inspired me during my UG studies.
August 12, 2025 at 9:15 AM
It's always a great feeling to unpack author copies, but bittersweet for this book I "co-authored" with Richard Smith at the request of his widow after he sadly passed. Hopefully it will serve as a worthy finale and inspire students today as much as his work inspired me during my UG studies.
Done my butterfly count for the year! Dunno if it's just weather or three years of building a pollinator paradise, but twice as many and four times as many varieties this year over 2024 🦋🐝
bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org
bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org
August 10, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Done my butterfly count for the year! Dunno if it's just weather or three years of building a pollinator paradise, but twice as many and four times as many varieties this year over 2024 🦋🐝
bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org
bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org
It's been a while since I've been in the EIC's earliest letters.
A good start with Nicholas Downton's miserable account and 'swarms of perplexed thoughts' about the shocking failure of his first voyage to the Red Sea and India.
Mainly the 'Turks', Portuguese and Mughal officials to blame, obv.
A good start with Nicholas Downton's miserable account and 'swarms of perplexed thoughts' about the shocking failure of his first voyage to the Red Sea and India.
Mainly the 'Turks', Portuguese and Mughal officials to blame, obv.
July 1, 2025 at 2:08 PM
It's been a while since I've been in the EIC's earliest letters.
A good start with Nicholas Downton's miserable account and 'swarms of perplexed thoughts' about the shocking failure of his first voyage to the Red Sea and India.
Mainly the 'Turks', Portuguese and Mughal officials to blame, obv.
A good start with Nicholas Downton's miserable account and 'swarms of perplexed thoughts' about the shocking failure of his first voyage to the Red Sea and India.
Mainly the 'Turks', Portuguese and Mughal officials to blame, obv.
Outside work I look after an old cottage and little wood in Yorkshire, with these magnificent bastards for company!
May 20, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Outside work I look after an old cottage and little wood in Yorkshire, with these magnificent bastards for company!