Gangsters of the East India Company and Robert Clive with William Dalrymple

WE'RE BACK! And coming to you from an estate outside Delhi, where Sean met author and historian William Dalrymple to talk (finally) about the early pirates, privateers and downright gangsters of the East India Company—a band of barely-legal spice merchants that wound up being just about the richest people on the planet, and owners—yes, owners—of an entire continent. We also dig into the life and times of Robert Clive, a brooding, violent man who would become one of the world's richest non-royals, and whose marauding exploits on the Indian subcontinent have made him a lightning rod for the cultures of Britain and modern India. War, loot, organized crime and weirdly enough, a Sliding Doors story for the mayflower. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices