Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of maps -- List of illustrations -- References and abbreviations -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 The Norse -- I 'The seas their land' -- II Land, loot and ships -- III The Norse impact -- Bibliographical note -- Chapter 2 The Hanse -- I The German east -- II An empire of trade -- III The Hanseatic legacy -- Bibliographical note -- Chapter 3 The Venetian Republic -- I 'The most triumphant city' -- II The east in fee -- III Prolonged recessional -- IV A new hegemony -- Bibliographical note -- Chapter 4 The Genoese Republic -- I 'Genoese and therefore a merchant' -- II A Genoese age -- III A microcosm of empire -- IV Eclipse -- V Imperial imprint -- Bibliographical note -- Chapter 5 Portugal -- I The empire of India -- II The Atlantic and Africa -- III Motives and methods -- IV Birth and death of a new age -- V A chronicle of disaster -- Bibliographical note -- Chapter 6 Spain -- I Hispania Victrix -- II Spain in America -- III Masters and slaves -- IV The roots of empire -- V The practice of empire -- VI Spaniard and Indian -- VII From Cortés to Quixote -- Bibliographical note -- Chapter 7 Holland -- I Dominion of the seas -- II Private profit and public good -- III The business of empire in Asia -- IV The rise and fall of the West India company -- V 'Oracles of commerce' -- Bibliographical note -- Chapter 8 France -- I Promise unfulfilled -- II Frenchmen and Redskins in Canada -- III A non-imperial state -- IV The Noble Savage and Indian rights -- Bibliographical note -- Chapter 9 England -- I Armed and aggressive beginnings -- II Routes to the east and the rise of the East India Company -- III Pioneer and planter in America and the West Indies -- IV New commercial horizons -- old intellectual boundaries -- Bibliographical note -- Conclusion -- Index