Shortened

BBC Radio 4 LW

In Our Time

Discussion & Talk

Podcasts

Factual: History

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.

BBC Radio 4 FM

Melvyn Bragg

Anne Goldgar

Chris Nierstrasz

Helen Paul

Simon Tillotson

In Our Time: The Dutch East India Company

The Dutch East India Company

03/03/2016

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, The Dutch East India Company

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Dutch East India Company.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Dutch East India Company, which dominated the Asian spice trade in the 17th century and is sometimes called the first multinational corporation.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC, known in English as the Dutch East India Company. The VOC dominated the spice trade between Asia and Europe for two hundred years, with the British East India Company a distant second. At its peak, the VOC had a virtual monopoly on nutmeg, mace, cloves and cinnamon, displacing the Portuguese and excluding the British, and were the only European traders allowed access to Japan.

With 

Anne Goldgar
Reader in Early Modern European History at King's College London

Chris Nierstrasz
Lecturer in Global History at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, formerly at the University of Warwick

And

Helen Paul
Lecturer in Economics and Economic History at the University of Southampton


Producer: Simon Tillotson.

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

In Our Time

The Dutch East India Company

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4