When in the early 1960s Roger Louis began writing on the history of the British empire, the dominant historiographical fashion was to invoke economic interpretations, even to subscribe to economic determinism. Hobson, Lenin, and the ‘export of surplus capital’ threw a long and intimidating shadow over the subject. Capitalism and slavery by Eric Williams was a key text, ‘Economic factors in the history of the empire’ by Richard Pares an essential article. Vincent Harlow's monumental The founding of the Second British Empire, 1763–1793 argued that a preference for ‘trade rather than dominion’ was the general characteristic from the late eighteenth century. Keith Hancock's great work, the Survey of British Commonwealth affairs, was built around the organising concept of moving frontiers of migration, money, and markets.