Fortunes a faire: The French in Asian Trade, 1719-48

Looking at an area of French trade in Asia in the first half of the 18th century, this text relates French Asian traders to their social, regional and financial roots and traces their connection with other Indian commercial groups, both European and Asian. The analysis stresses the importance of the Indian context and shows that the economic and political developments in south India were of crucial significance in the French move from trade to war in the 1740s. Finally, the book examines why the French failed.