The Routledge History of the Modern Maritime World Since 1500

The Routledge History of the Modern Maritime World since 1500 provides a wide-ranging set of chapters, covering the sixteenth century to the present, which represent the main lines of current enquiry in maritime history.

Over the past half-century, maritime history has become a significant sub-field of historical research that intersects with broader historical concerns such as oceanic history, global patterns of production and consumption, and the maritime heritage industry. Informed by original research, an engagement with current historiographical concerns, and a global geographical reach, the book is divided into sections covering shipping, ports, merchants and trade, maritime environments, coastal zones, and the human dimension. Chapters focus on different countries across different ranges of time and also with different methodological approaches. The six sections of this book show the significant areas central to the study and understanding of the modern maritime world, and collectively, they highlight the areas in which the themes pursued by maritime historians have advanced and are currently moving.

This book will appeal to various academic audiences; students will find chapters dealing with major topics in maritime history that will help them in their courses; for professional scholars in history, archaeology, heritage studies, historical sociology, and economics, chapters outline some of the latest research in the field.

Kenneth Morgan is Professor of History in the School of Social and Political Sciences at Brunel University of London. His teaching and research focuses on maritime history, slavery and the slave trade, emigration and immigration, and music history. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His previous publications include Bristol and the Atlantic Trade in the Eighteenth Century (1993), Slavery, Atlantic Trade and the British Economy (2000), Slavery and the British Empire: From Africa to America (2007), Matthew Flinders, Maritime Explorer of Australia (2016) and Navigating by the Southern Cross; A History of the European Discovery and Exploration of Australia (2021).