Corruption is a preoccupation of governments and societies across place and time, from the 18th-19th Century British, Chinese, and Iberian empires to 20th Century Nazi Germany, Russia, the United States, and India. This study offers three different perspectives on corruption. The first chapters highlight corrupt practices, taking as a point of departure a technocratic definition of corruption. The second part of the book views corruption through the lens of discourses of corruption, revealing that accusations of corruption have been employed as tools, often in the context of contestations of power. The essays in the third part of the book treat corruption as a process, taking into account its causes and effects and their impact on society, economics, and politics. Contributors: Jeremy Adelman, Virginie Coulloudon, William Doyle, Diego Gambetta, Norman J. W. Goda, Robert Gregg, Michael Johnston, William Chester Jordan, Emmanuel Kreike, Vinod Pavarala, Dilip Simeon, Pierre-Etienne Will, David Witwer, Philip Woodfine William Chester Jordan is Professor of History at Princeton University; Emmanuel Kreike is Assistant Professor of African History and Director of the African Studies Program at Princeton University

This wide-ranging volume goes to the heart of the revisionist debate about the crisis of government that led to the English Civil War. The author tackles questions about the patronage that structured early modern society, arguing that the increase in royal bounty in the early seventeenth century redefined the corrupt practices that characterized early modern administration.

Now featuring scholarship published since the first edition, revised lists of recommended readings that include important books published since 1988, and appendices of rulers of Spain and Portugal, this lively, very readable history provides a concise yet comprehensive study of the Iberian colonies in the New World from the pre-conquest background through European exploration, conquest, and colonization, to the wars of independence in the early nineteenth century. As before, numerous photographs and maps lend immediacy to the narrative, and biographical examples of both conqueror and conquered illustrate colonial life. Clear and engaging, this extremely well-balanced book is invaluable for anyone who wants to learn about Latin America's colonial legacy and difficult transition into the modern era.