Seascapes: Maritime Histories, Littoral Cultures, and Transoceanic Exchanges

Perspectives on the Global Past

by Jerry H. Bentley (Editor), Renate Bridenthal (Editor), Kären E. Wigen (Editor)

Historians have only recently begun to chart the experiences of maritime regions in rich detail and penetrate the historical processes at work there. Seascapes makes a major contribution to these efforts by bringing together original scholarship on historical issues arising from maritime regions around the world. The essays presented here take a variety of approaches. One group examines the material, cultural, and intellectual constructs that inform and explain historical experiences of maritime regions. Another set discusses efforts - some more successful than others - to impose political and military control over maritime regions. A third group focuses on issues of social history such as labor organization, information flows, and the development of political consciousness among subaltern populations. The final essays deal with pirates and efforts to control them in Mediterranean, Japanese, and Atlantic waters.

Genres: History, World History

261 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2007

About the author

Jerry H. Bentley was professor of history at the University of Hawaii and editor of the Journal of World History.

Reviews

[Cal Desmond-Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The essays presented here take a variety of approaches. One group examines the material, cultural, and intellectual constructs that inform and explain historical experiences of maritime regions. Another set discusses efforts―some more successful than others―to impose political and military control over maritime regions. A third group focuses on issues of social history such as labor organization, information flows, and the development of political consciousness among subaltern populations. The final essays deal with pirates and efforts to control them in Mediterranean, Japanese, and Atlantic waters.