Building on her earlier monograph examining the communities and people involved in British-Atlantic trade in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Sheryllynne Haggerty''s new volume draws explicitly on socio-economic theory, offering an interdisciplinary approach to her broader topic of business culture in this region. Haggerty successfully - and innovatively - combines empiricism and theory, and, in her own words, ''using these theories explicitly has facilitated an engagement with primary sources in a new way'' (p. 7).''Merely for Money''? is organised into sets of linked chapters. First, an introductory chapter introduces the ports, commodities and people that are used throughout the book as a mechanism for exploring socio-economic theory - providing ''the context for business culture'' (p. 7). The following three sets of chapters explore Risk and Trust, Reputation and Obligation, and Networks and Crises; the final set of chapters using case studies to exemplify how mercantile networks functioned in and adapted to changing conditions in specific times of crisis in this period. At first glance, the reader could be forgiven for assuming that the issues explored in this book are not new - much literature on trade and commerce has referred to both mercantile networks themselves, and the issues of risk, trust, reputation and obligation inherent in them.

However, Haggerty''s assertion that historians (as opposed to social scientists) have been reticent in defining these terms is well-founded (p. 162), and the uniqueness of this volume lies in the combination of an historical and social science approach. In addition to borrowing existing terminology from social science disciplines, on occasion Haggerty bravely supplies her own definitions - for example relating to business networks, which she defines as ''a group or groups of people that form associations with the explicit or implicit expectation of mutual long-term economic benefit'' (p. 164). Such definitions are not without their problems. In this case, one might ask if economic benefit needed to be long-term, or if this was always expected. A one-off, opportunistic transaction between two merchants who never met again could still take place within a larger network, and thus frame the future of it; while individual merchants may on occasion have sought a one-off transaction. While such semantic criticisms are perhaps unavoidable, Haggerty should be commended for pioneering this approach.

While largely theoretical in nature, the volume draws on an impressive primary source base, including mercantile letters and accounts, state papers, treasury and admiralty records, newspapers and trade directories sourced throughout Britain, Europe, and the Americas - all of which have been skilfully interwoven with the theoretical framework provided throughout the volume. Additionally, the book plays ''Devil''s Advocate to the positive slant in the historiography on networks'', analysing failure as well as success (p. 169). Haggerty has ignored the temptation to use only high profile merchants'' records, instead focusing on smaller collections of less high profile merchants to ''facilitate the inclusion of as many merchants of varying degrees of prosperity as possible, rather than only the most successful'' (p. 5). Further, in contrast to much previous scholarship, Haggerty acknowledges the negative as well as the positive, discussing ways in which networks hindered economic progress, and recognising that family ties were not necessarily beneficial (pp. 138, 162).The crux of the book is in the final set of linked chapters, which draw the theoretical themes together.

In Chapter 6, ''Networks'', Haggerty employs Pajek software to visually portray the Atlantic networks of three merchants at two different points in their careers. This approach is extremely enlightening, offering a new way for historians to approach networks of all kinds. More detailed discussion of how these diagrams were compiled or whether they are conclusive would be welcome - though one assumes, given the nature of the source material used, that evidence for some links no longer survives. Discussion of how ''strong'' and ''weak'' ties have been defined is helpful, as is the acknowledgement that networks are dynamic entities, making comparison of ties problematic (pp. 166-9).Although Haggerty''s definition of a ''strong'' tie as ''an emotionally-intensive tie as opposed to one based on frequency or financial value'' (p. 174) seems contradictory in economic terms, historians can nevertheless learn much from this approach, and this methodology will be strengthened as it is adopted by other scholars and developed over time. What is disappointing and frustrating for the reader is that in an otherwise high quality publication, the rendering of these diagrams is comparatively poor.

While presumably not the author''s purview, this detracts from what is otherwise a particularly illuminating section of the book.''Merely for Money''? is extremely thought-provoking, opening several avenues for future investigation. The book uses Liverpool as its ''axis'' (p. 23) - a sensible approach given Liverpool''s dominance of Atlantic trade in this period, as well as being the arena in which much of the author''s own prior research lies. This approach, though, means that the ''British'' element of the book is somewhat lost, despite some small sections discussing Irish and particularly Scottish participation in the British Atlantic (e.g. pp. 124, 173).

Similarly, though the issue of triangular trade is touched upon (e.g. p. 172), future examination of this practice will add more to our understanding of business culture in the wider Atlantic region. The book''s biggest contribution to the field is undoubtedly its interdisciplinarity. Haggerty successfully places qualitative research in a theoretical framework, demonstrating, quite rightly, that a socio-economic approach can add much to historical studies. This book will invigorate debate over the intricacies of trade throughout the British Atlantic and more widely, and the methodologies explored promise much for future generations of commercial historians. Siobhan Talbott, Business History.