In this book, the authors discuss the production and trade of iron in the British “Atlantic world” during a crucial phase of economic expansion c. 1650–1750. They adopt a “wide-angle perspective on the making and marketing of iron,” by which they “depart from established historiographical practice in both Britain and Sweden” (p. 13). One of the general arguments is that British-made (pig) iron in the eighteenth century did not suffice to satisfy the demand for that product arising within the British-dominated Atlantic world, and that Swedish iron production produced the vital “ghost acreage” needed by Britain in order to trod an otherwise unsustainable path of economic expansion. The implicit assumption is that iron represented a vital input to the economy even prior to the “industrial revolution.”

In developing their thesis, the authors deliberately refrain from using theory (p. 19), but choose to let the facts speak instead. Their only organizing concept or “model” is the one put forward by Wallerstein et al. of the global commodity chain (GCC). The applicable GCC in this particular case commenced in the Swedish iron-manufacturing hinterlands, where ore was smelted within a rural environment, then processed in one of the larger Swedish ironworks, owned and run by a newly emerged class of capitalist entrepreneurs (brukspatroner), before it was brought on to a ship to Britain. There it intermixed with other goods in several of the larger English (and some Scottish) overseas merchants’ warehouses, before it was used in the rather infamous “triangular trades” (chapter one, pp. 1–41).

In a giant second chapter (pp. 42–214), accounting for close to two-thirds of the book, Chris Evans and Göran Rydén closely work out the production and distribution processes of bar iron in the Atlantic world, drawing on a rich set of primary sources from Swedish and English archives. As stressed in the introduction, one cannot meaningfully separate trade from production as done in modern concepts of national income accounting. Thus iron producers and merchants are being treated synonymously, in order to work out the close links stretching from, say, the big ironworks (bruk) at Leufsta in Sweden on the one and Bristol, England's premier western port involved in the colonial trades on the other hand. Several aspects helped Swedish iron to integrate into the Atlantic economy, as for instance “Swedish iron and Carolina rice had complementary production cycles” (p. 59). Swedish iron came in and was sold in different types and quality, such as the rather expensive Orgrund iron that lent itself to the making of especially hard and durable steel, whilst types such as “voyage iron” were less expensive and slightly more common. Production of high-grade steel in the Birmingham and Sheffield area even extended into the market for luxury goods, as “steel was routinely used in the production of high-status articles” such as buttons and cutlery (p. 144s). A considerable number of guns, apart from being used within the numerous conflicts of that age, were also sold on the Guinea coast in exchange for slaves. Around 1730 the rivalry of Russian iron became increasingly felt on the British market which put some pressure on Swedish producers. Generally, however, Sweden retained its importance as a main supplier to the British market until the end of the eighteenth century.

Chapter three takes a slightly differing route, switching from the “material” world derived from data on production, exports, and merchants’ accounts, to the “big debates” that were carried out during the period of “high mercantilism.” Whilst the basic lines of English mercantilism are well-understood, the chapter provides some important insights into the very similar debates and policies in Sweden. The basic conflicts of interests between the English mercantilist state that had to cope with a persistently negative trade balance with the Baltic on the one, and the Bristol Atlantic merchants on the other hand, who were dependent on Swedish iron supplies for keeping up with growing demand, especially from the colonies, are highlighted.

Chapter four (pp. 250–91) returns to the “material” sphere by taking the description of the iron production processes well into the “heart” of the classical industrial revolution down to the 1870s. This, however, is a well-known story of the introduction of coke smelting that (inter alia) transformed Britain into the leading economy in the nineteenth century. Clearly the “high time” of Swedish—and Russian—charcoal-produced iron was over by the early 1800s. Therefore chapter four, rather than providing new insights, represents the capstone of an extremely well-presented argument focused on the early 1700s. The conclusion (pp. 292–300) places the argument into the current literature on eighteenth-century “Atlantic economics.” The argument is supported by an extensive prosopography of the main actors involved, as well as a glossary, an extensive bibliography, and an index.

This book takes a fresh look on the eighteenth-century “Atlantic economy” by utilizing a rich set of previously unused primary sources from two separate countries and cultures. It teases out one commodity stream that has been hitherto largely ignored. The argument is clearly presented, neatly organized and, it has to be said, extremely well written. It is accompanied by a rich variety of illustrations drawn from contemporary sources. Quantitative data is used throughout, mainly drawn from private merchants’ accounts. Only limited use is being made of the available “macro-data” which are much less reliable, especially when applied to time series analysis, such as customs returns on British iron exports, or the rather infamous Sound Toll Registers (p. 135, Fig. 2–12 and p. 184, Fig. 2.13–14). There are two potential weaknesses, which however, disappear completely upon second inspection: first, there is a virtually complete absence of theory. To the present reviewer, however, this is actually one of the book's main strengths. A second “weakness” could be the fact that large sets of the analysis of the “global” contingencies of Swedish iron production are derived from a very narrow set of primary sources, mainly the merchants’ papers of Griffin Prankard, Bristol, as well as the records pertaining to a small number of Swedish ironworks. Statistical significance, however, is the basic problem faced by almost any researcher of the early modern economy. If we were to cast doubt on the wider or “macro”-significance of the primary sources such as those utilized in the present study, any argument on the early modern economy would become brittle and the study of early modern economic history well-nigh meaningless. The present book therefore is a model study in historical research; without doubt the fruit of several years of painstaking archival work on both sides of the North Sea, involving different languages and cultures. It is to be highly recommended to anyone interested in the intimate working mechanisms of the eighteenth-century Atlantic economy.