This book comprehensively explores the inner workings of the Woodes Rogers expedition during the War of the Spanish Succession. It examines the people behind the financing, their roles in commerce, and their places in Bristol civic society. The book draws on Society of Merchant Venturers, Corporation of the Poor, Society of Friends, and burgess and apprenticeship lists from Bristol to place the expedition in local context. The Woodes Rogers Expedition of 1708-1711 also connects the investors, the officers, and even the crew as a whole via intricate networks extended throughout the British Atlantic and even further beyond.
The book contextualizes the cruising voyage as an extension of Britain's commercial ventures in the Spanish Pacific. Both the triumphant and trying periods of the voyage were fastidiously documented and the investors' commercial networks are readily apparent from Peru to the Dutch East Indies. Ian Abbey reveals how an array of business contacts and extended relatives were instrumental in stalling competitors such as the British East India Company and settling legal matters with them. Abbey concludes with an examination of how the investors rose in society afterward, with some of the officers entering Bristol's elite circles for the first time.