Transnational Comparisons in Nineteenth-Century History: Theory and Case Studies

Comparative history is one of the most important methodologies of historical investigation taught in universities across the world. Recently, it has been enriched by the work of several scholars who combine the methodologies of comparative history and transnational history very effectively. This is the spirit behind Transnational Comparisons in Nineteenth-Century History: Theory and Case Studies, a book which emphasizes the equal value of comparative and transnational historical investigations, but which also argues that every comparative study that looks beyond one nation is intrinsically transnational.

Historians of the nineteenth century have been at the forefront of the research that has led to the current interest in both comparative and transnational approaches to the study of the past. Yet, if one wishes to write transnational comparisons focused on the nineteenth century, there are no specific guides for the methodology and practice of comparative history.

This book provides scholars, researchers, and students working on the nineteenth century with a resource for comparative history in both theoretical and practical terms. It combines a methodological introduction with specific case studies of transnational comparisons of individuals, groups, cities, events, processes, and beliefs within a Euro-American historical context.

Enrico Dal Lago is Established Professor of History at the University of Galway. He is the author of seven books on slavery and transnational comparisons in the nineteenth-century Euro-American world, including Civil War and Agrarian Unrest: The Confederate South and Southern Italy (2018).