The political economy of smuggling

In this compelling history of Imperialism in the New World, Lane Grahn explores the role of smuggling in colonial Spanish America. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, he sheds important new light on the depth and intensity of political corruption and commercial illegalities in the Spanish empire.

With its focus on early Bourbon contours of New Granada's external economy and the nature of the colony's regionalized political economy, this work deepens our understanding of the development of Spanish imperialism, the realities of the early modern Atlantic economy, and the historical roots of modern Colombia.