Introduction
Commerce and the edge of colonialism: Almayer's folly
Competing for the prizes of commerce and overlordship: An outcast of the islands
Standing out against the 'irresistibility of progress': The rescue
Negotiating the nets of commerce and duty: Lord Jim
Imperialism, commerce, and the individual: appetites and responsibilities in 'Falk'
Testing the west, testing the individual: The shadow-line
The 'irreducible minimum': the plantation and comprehensive commercialization in 'The end of the tether'
The rise of the commodity: mining, pan-European financing, and commercial imagination in Victory
Conclusion.