The second volume in the OUP/National History Center series, Reinterpreting History, this book offers an incisive look at how interpretations of the Atlantic world have changed over time and from a variety of national perspectives. Atlantic history, which developed in the 1970s and has become very popular in the past several years, looks at the transnational interconnections between Europe, North America, South America, and Africa, particularly in the early modern/colonial period, rather than understanding nations/states absent a broader global context.
This volume discusses key areas of the Atlantic world, including the British, Dutch, French, Iberian, and African Atlantic, as well as the movement of ideas, peoples, and goods. It also offers critical perspectives of the concept itself, juxtaposing it with global and Continental history. The cast of contributors is stellar and international, including scholars who have been at the forefront of teaching and research in this area. Together they will create a volume that introduces inexperienced students and general readers to Atlantic history, as well as offers new perspectives for scholars. Atlantic history is taught as its own course at a variety of universities, and Atlantic perspectives are incorporated into courses on early modern Europe, British history, colonial America, colonial Latin America, and African history.
Atlantic history, with its emphasis on inter-regional developments that transcend national borders, has risen to prominence as a fruitful perspective through which to study the interconnections among Europe, North America, Latin America, and Africa. These original essays present a comprehensive and incisive look at how Atlantic history has been interpreted across time and through a variety of lenses from the fifteenth through the early nineteenth century. Editors Jack P. Greene and Philip D. Morgan have assembled a stellar cast of thirteen international scholars to discuss key areas of Atlantic history, including the British, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, African, and indigenous worlds, as well as the movement of ideas, peoples, and goods. Other contributors assess contemporary understandings of the ocean and present alternatives to the concept itself, juxtaposing Atlantic history with global, hemispheric, and Continental history.
Featuring some of the brightest minds in early modern history debating one of its most important subjects, Atlantic History: A Critical Appraisal will serve as the indispensable point of entry for the next generation of Atlantic world scholarship.
