Simon Targett
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Thoughts...

New World, Inc.—Coming out 20 March 2018

1/2/2018

2 Comments

 
​It’s been a little over three years in the making, but now my book New World, Inc. The Making of America by England’s Merchant Adventurers, is soon to be published by Little, Brown & Co: 20 March 2018. Co-written with John Butman, it tells the untold story of the venture capitalists who founded what would become the United States before the Pilgrims reached Plymouth Rock.
 
From the 1550s onwards, a constellation of business people went in search of new markets for cloth, England’s primary export. At first, they headed East and dreamed of Cathay—China, with its silks and other luxuries. Eventually, they turned West, and so began a whole new chapter in world history. Over the course of 70-plus years, they organised, promoted and financed hundreds of ventures, until multiple strands of failure stitched into a fabric of success.
 
Thomas Gresham, George Barne, William Garrard, Humphrey Gilbert, Michael Lok, Thomas Smythe: these, among many others, are the “forgotten founders”. It is their story—the prequel to the Pilgrims—that we tell in New World, Inc. And, in so far as their actions ushered in the modern world, it is our story too.
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2 Comments
Terri Nowotny
17/7/2018 05:05:38 am

I cannot wait to read this book! My 13th great grandfather is George Barne. I'm looking for more printed material about him and his family. If you have more information than what is in your book, I would be interested in hearing about it. I find it interesting that he has never been listed in the history books that I read or was taught in school as a child, that I can remember. He obviously was a mover and a shaker to help find new lands. Thanks for all your hard work in making this book happen! Sincerely, Terri Barnes Nowotny

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simon targett link
3/8/2018 12:49:45 pm

Hi Terri, Thanks for getting in touch! I've always enjoyed the genealogical aspect of history. So it is great to receive your message. I found that, in writing New World, Inc, the familial story, which unfolded over three generations before the Pilgrims set foot on Plymouth Rock, was a very rich one. I hope you've now got a copy of New World, Inc. You'll see that two George Barnes (father and son) appear in the early chapters. Both served as Lord Mayor of London, and the son also served as an MP. They were very prominent (yet, as you say, nowadays strangely overlooked) participants in the expansion of England in the days of the Tudors. And they were connected with one of the great sponsors of imperial adventures: Sir Francis Walsingham (as father-in-law and brother-in-law). I will look back at my notes and see what else I uncovered about them that I didn't include in the book—and I'll aim to write a blog post on them. Have you found out more about them? Regards, Simon

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