The Victorian Empire and Britain's Maritime World, 1837-1901 The Sea and Global History

'We are fish' observed Lord Salisbury of Britain's global interests at the height of the 19th century pax Britannica. Yet the relationship between the sea and Britain's empire during the Victorian era has rarely been treated in a single volume. The essays in this book do just that. Through a series of case-studies these cutting edge contributions survey the work of the Royal Navy as the policeman of imperial interests: combating piracy and the slave trade. In examining the battle for technological supremacy at sea, the role of the large shipping companies in emigration and migration, and the shipping of British culture overseas via the circulation of knowledge and artefacts, this volume gives an insight into the Victorians' understanding of their own destiny as a sea-faring island.

Miles Taylor is Director of the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, UK. His books include The Decline of British Radicalism, 1847-60 (1995), Ernest Jones, Chartism and the Romance of Politics, 1819-69 (2003) and (co-edited with Michael Wolff), The Victorians since 1901: Histories, Representations and Revisions (2004).

Introduction; Miles Taylor
1. 'Now is come a darker day': Britain, Venice and the meaning of sea power; Andrew Lambert
2. After emancipation: slavery, freedom and the Victorian empire; John Oldfield
3. Cultural, intellectual and religious networks: Britain's maritime exchanges in the 19th and 20th centuries; John Mackenzie
4. 'We never make mistakes': the empire of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company; Crosbie Smith
5. Crossing the seas: problems and possibilities for Queen Victoria's; Indian subjects Judith Brown
6. Three weeks' post apart: British children travel the empire ; Liz Buettner
7. Insularity and empire; Jan Rüger
8. The Victorian empire in its global context; Jeremy Black