Edmond Smith

Edmond Smith was born and raised in the West Midlands, where the remnants of Britain’s industrial history supplied a poignant introduction to Britain’s economic past, and now based in West Yorkshire. Smith received a PhD in History at the University of Cambridge. They are now Professor of Economic Cultures at The University of Manchester, author of Merchants: The Community That Shaped England’s Trade and Empire, 1550-1650 and winner of the 2023 Ralph Gomory Prize. Their latest book is Ruthless: A New History of Britain’s Rise to Wealth and Power, 1660-1800 published by Yale University Press.