Lords Of The Rim (Seagrave Book)
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''Lords of the Rim'' is a book written by American historian
Sterling Seagrave Sterling Seagrave (April 15, 1937 – May 1, 2017) was an American historian. He was the author of numerous books which address unofficial and clandestine aspects of the 20th-century political history of countries in the Far East. Personal life Bo ...
. It was first published in 1995, then substantially updated in a second edition published in 2010. It is a history of Chinese
expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
economics written for the lay person and has received mixed reviews. Presenting an in-depth overview of the outstanding success of expatriate Chinese business people around the
Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The ''Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire. List of co ...
, the author begins with a potted history of China's finance and business practices over the last three thousand years and the political reasons for the first tide of entrepreneurs to chance their luck overseas.


Outline

Slowly but surely, over the last two to three thousand years, Chinese expatriates have gained a firm trade and business foothold in almost every country around the Pacific Rim area, from Vietnam and
Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
to the West Coast of the United States and Canada. Seagrave attempts to disclose the way these Chinese merchants do business, with each other and with others. He claims that many of these entrepreneurs, despite how many years or centuries they may have been settled in a particular country hold no real allegiance to any government or people except their ancestral clans and ‘home’ villages in China. The author also reveals some of the dubious and aggressive business practices these Lords of the Rim have adopted and mastered over the years. These tactics and their traditional work ethos go some way to explain their astonishing success in the past and up to the present day.


References

1995 non-fiction books Books about economic history Books about China {{econ-hist-book-stub