Economists have called the South Sea bubble "one of the most famous and dramatic episodes in the history of speculation". The company's spectacular fall impacted not only its investors, but public confidence in corporations, investments, and even banking worldwide.

How did the directors of one of the most successful joint-stock companies at the time, sought after in social circles as financiers and masterminds, come to be called before Parliament to testify? The anger over the dishonesty of the directors of the company resulted in one member of the House of Lords suggesting that the South Sea Company directors "be sewn up in sacks, along with snakes and monies, and then drowned."

Though the history of the South Sea Company is obscure and unfamiliar to most, the regular references to the company and the scandal that surrounded it have lead it to be regularly referenced by economists, historians, and even investors today. It is a story centered around England's history of debt, loans, and banking, all against the backdrop of modern history's most famous empire.

The South Sea Company: The History of the British Empire's South American Stock Company examines the history and legacy of one of England's most notorious trading companies. You will learn about the South Sea Company like never before, in no time at all.