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This volume aims to continue the expansion of maritime history beyond the narrow definition - ‘the study of ships’ - to include all people involved in seagoing activities. The volume consists of eleven articles exploring the people of Northern seas, spanning the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries and primarily focused on Europe. They were originally presented at a 1992 Finland conference of the Association for the History of the Northern Seas. The articles are broad in scope, and are collected here with the intention of stimulating further academic research into the lives and histories of the people of the Northern seas, which the editors, at the time of publication, consider under-examined. The articles are divided into three sections, the first examining livelihoods dependant on the ocean; seamen, fishermen. The second group examines maritime mercantile communities; merchants; shipowners; shipbrokers. The final group examines maritime culture, encompassing the navy and the coastguard.
This book explores the tenuous existence of seafarers, divided between their time on the ocean and their residence in sailortown economies geared to exploit them. Particular attention is given both to the contribution of seafarers as a global workforce into the nineteenth century, and to their help in creating vibrant multicultural enclaves in port cities worldwide. In addition, research explores the scandalized opinions of outside observers, challenging ideas about public behavior and relationships. Sailortown myths persisted far into the twentieth century, to the detriment of older waterfront districts and their residents, and readers will find this book is invaluable in casting new light on forgotten communities, whose lives bridged urban, maritime and global histories.
The performance of heritage takes place in prestigious institutions such as museums and archives, in officially sanctioned spaces such as jubilees and public monuments, but also in more mundane, ephemeral and banal cultural practices, such as naming of phenomena, viewing exhibitions or walking in the countryside. This volume examines the performance of Nordic heritage and the shaping of the very idea of Norden in diverse contexts in North America, the Baltic and the Nordic countries and examines the importance of these places as sites for creating and preserving cultural heritage. Offering rich perspectives on a part of Europe which has not been the centre of discussion in the Anglophone world, this volume will be of value to a wide readership, including cultural historians, museum practitioners, policy-makers and scholars of heritage, ethnology and folkloristics.
This book compiles seven essays concerning changes to merchant shipping over the hundred and fifty years between 1850 and 2000, and spanning a range of countries, with particular focus on Norway, Greece, Japan, and England. The essays are linked by the theme of change: from traditional to modern shipping; in fluctuating cargo demands; from sail to steam; wood to iron; in improvements in communication technologies; in political natures and affiliations; in seafaring skillsets; in the advent of containerisation and advent of globalisation. The overall aim is to construct a solid international context for the merchant shipping industry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - primarily to aid a major Norwegian deep-sea merchant marine project. The book contains an introduction that sets out these aims, and seven essays by maritime historians which form part of the international contextual whole, though all can be approached individually.
This book provides a series of case studies concerning ports and port communities from around the world, in attempt to determine the impact of globalisation on the port industry and the link between local and global port conditions. It also presents the case for the absolute necessity of ports and port systems to trade and industry on a global scale. The book is comprised of ten essays, the first six of which concern local issues in a rapid globalising industry. The second section contains the remaining four essays, which consider port systems from national perspectives.
This work seeks to understand why a disproportionately large number of third class passengers, particularly women and children, died during the sinking of the Titanic in relation to the first and second classes. It examines the gender, class, social, and cultural factors that influenced this disparity. It aims to uncover both why and how five hundred and thirty one third class passengers died on the night of April 14th 1912. A key area of focus is the difficult relationship between the ship’s authorities and the men of the third class, and the extent to which this determined the fate of passengers during the rescue efforts. The introduction asks ‘Who were the third class passengers?’ a...
We know the tales of Columbus and Captain Cook, yet much earlier mariners made equally bold and world-changing voyages. In Beyond the Blue Horizon, archaeologist and historian Brian Fagan tackles his richest topic yet: the enduring quest to master the oceans, the planet's most mysterious terrain. From the moment when ancient Polynesians first dared to sail beyond the horizon, Fagan vividly explains how our mastery of the oceans changed the course of human history. What drove humans to risk their lives on open water? How did early sailors unlock the secrets of winds, tides, and the stars they steered by? What were the earliest ocean crossings like? With compelling detail, Fagan reveals how seafaring evolved so that the forbidding realms of the sea gods were transformed from barriers into a nexus of commerce and cultural exchange. From bamboo rafts in the Java Sea to triremes in the Aegean, from Norse longboats in the North Atlantic to sealskin kayaks in Alaska, Fagan crafts a captivating narrative of humanity's urge to challenge the unknown and seek out distant shores.
This book is a wide-reaching study of Norwegian maritime history and developments within the discipline. It brings together the research efforts of a University of Oslo project aiming to further understand Norwegian shipping history between 1814 and 2014, and the work of a new generation of maritime historians. Structured into three sections - global integration, political issues, and success and failure - the volume covers a broad range of maritime topics that have influenced both Norwegian economic development and Norwegian cultural identity. Through analysis it discovers that in the last few decades Norwegian shipping has been plagued by multiple troubles, whilst simultaneously becoming less crucial to the Norwegian economy in favour of offshore petroleum production. However, it reiterates the historical importance of shipping to the economic development of Norway, and asserts that historians have begun to treat it as the centre from which other industries grew.
In this stimulating and authoritative overview, Michael Pearson reverses the traditional angle of maritime history and looks from the sea to its shores - its impact on the land through trade, naval power, travel and scientific exploration. This vast ocean, both connecting and separating nations, has shaped many countries' cultures and ideologies through the movement of goods, people, ideas and religions across the sea. The Indian Ocean moves from a discussion of physical elements, its shape, winds, currents and boundaries, to a history from pre-Islamic times to the modern period of European dominance. Going far beyond pure maritime history, this compelling survey is an invaluable addition to political, cultural and economic world history.
France was interwar Poland’s main ally, and the biggest source of the country’s foreign investment. The two roles were closely connected: Paris used its position in Warsaw to win preferential treatment for its firms, while Polish authorities depended on France to finance their modernization policies and military spending. The relationship’s asymmetric character bred conflict, and in the 1930s dissenting voices compared French actions in Poland to imperialism and colonial expansion. This book untangles the complex mix of economics, policy, and politics in Franco-Polish relations. Based on government and company-level sources, it evaluates the part played by French capital in Poland and ...