The Anarchy

Why it’s on the list: Dalrymple’s account of how a joint-stock company with a London office and a private army came to govern most of the Indian subcontinent — corporate power as a literal sovereign, with the balance sheet to match.

Where I saw it: A bare Amazon link saved in the note.

Re-surfaced (recommendation #2) in the reply thread to @typesfast asking “What’s the best history book you’ve read?” (June 5, 2025) — a crowd-sourced list Kyle recovered by hand; the full list lives on What’s the best history book… (tweet).

Connections

• Company Building — the portfolio idea this sits closest to, read at its most extreme.
• Monopoly — the charter and what it bought.
• What’s the best history book… (tweet) — recommendation #2: named in this crowd-sourced thread.