John Shovlin - *Trading with the Enemy: Britain, France, and the 18th-Century Quest for a Peaceful World Order*

This week we spoke with John Shovlin about his new book on capitalist international relations between France and Britain during the "second Hundred Years War." Its well-known that uneven commercial development provoked conflict in early modern Europe, as great powers that lagged behind fought violently to catch up. What's less well-known is that, as Shovlin shows, the same mercantilist rivalries could also provoke the opposite responses: free trade and peace projects. We ask him about the notorious John Law episode in France, hegemony and empire as master concepts for narrating international history, and the problem of protection costs for global capitalism.

*** LINKS***

Check out John's personal website here: https://www.johnshovlin.com/

Buy the book: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300253566/trading-enemy

Less familiar with the early modern period? The following might be worth skimming:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colbertism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiocracy