Is there a published imperial chemical industries history?

Answer 1

The origin of ICI's business was in the partnership formed in 1873 between John Brunner, of Liverpool, a talented and ambitious businessman and Ludwig Mond, a brilliant industrial chemist from Kassel in Germany. Their partnership resulted in the formation of Brunner, Mond and Company Limited in 1881 which became the leading British chemical company with the largest alkali export business in the world. Brunner Mond pioneered a market for alkalis and chemical fertilizers which traded as far as China where they set up a successful business arm in Shanghai. This arm was begun and developed by Edward Selby Little, originally a British missionary who left the missionary service when he met Henry Glendinning of Brunner Mond who had been sent to the East to find markets for the company's products. The two men met in Shanghai in 1898. A very good history of ICI's business in China can be found in Patrick Brodie's book 'Crescent over Cathy: China and ICI, 1898 to 1956'. Oxford University Press. New York and Hong Kong. (1990).ISBN 0-19-584038-0.