Reviews
Written with enthusiasm and a joy to read, Costello enlightens the reader with numerous fascinating stories and anecdotes as well as previously unpublished first-hand testimonies of black seafarers and their adventures at sea and on land, some positive, others tragic. History Today 201211 The price tag of this book may put some potential buyers on the back foot but it is a very nicely presented and incredibly well researched look at the history of black seafarers in Britain. Although black seafarers are believed to have been a part of the British maritime industry as far back as the 9th century, the first record of a black seafarer was In 1547, when slave Jacques Francis, along with his master, joined an expedition to salvage Henry VIII's famous warship, the Mary Rose. As well as being one of the first recorded black seafarers, Jacques is possibly one of the first black witnesses In a British court after he was called as a witness when his master was accused of stealing from two other wrecks. As the slave trade grew over the next 200 years, so did the numberofbonded black seafarers In the British fleet who served under their masters' name, and most of these go unrecorded. However, not all black seafarers In Britain at that time were slaves and the book also charts the careers of som e of those who are recorded in history. The book moves into the 19th century where research has found that, despite previous beliefs that not many black people lived in Britain until the 20th century, many port towns bad long established black communities. The 1851 census shows that the overwhelming majority of Immigrants from the British colonies were mariners and seamen's homes exclusively for non-white seafarers began to be established. By this time it was possible, although very difficult, for black seafarers to rise up the ranks, but those who did often found that the lack of respect from subordinates made the rank impossible to maintain. The best opportunities were onboard 'tramp' ships where black seam en of all ranks benefited from the large amount of work available and attained a degree of freedom and career progression. Unfortunately the attitudes towards non-white seafarers deteriorated in the early 20th century although the outbreak of war did provide opportunities for employment. The Second World War seemed destined to repeat the pattern and saw strikes by Indian and Chinese seamen which forced the British merchant fleet to realise their importance during the war's labour shortages. Attitudes and employment opportunities for black seafarers increased though the 20th century, especially with the Race Relations Act of1976 and the crew shortages of the 1960s and 70S. The book covers history to the present day where the declining shipping industry in the UK has hit all races hard, but equality is a more entrenched mind-set. Black Salt is a fascinating read which is hard to put down. It is as enjoyable as it is thought-provoking and covers an area of the British Merchant and Royal navies that is often over looked. Well worth the price tag. Nautilus International, Telegraph 201304 Black Salt is a fascinating read which is hard to put down. It is as enjoyable as it is thought-provoking and covers an area of the British Merchant and Royal navies that is often over looked. Well worth the price tag. Nautilus International, Telegraph 201304
Written with enthusiasm and a joy to read, Costello enlightens the reader with numerous fascinating stories and anecdotes as well as previously unpublished first-hand testimonies of black seafarers and their adventures at sea and on land, some positive, others tragic. History Today 201211 The price tag of this book may put some potential buyers on the back foot but it is a very nicely presented and incredibly well researched look at the history of black seafarers in Britain. Although black seafarers are believed to have been a part of the British maritime industry as far back as the 9th century, the first record of a black seafarer was In 1547, when slave Jacques Francis, along with his master, joined an expedition to salvage Henry VIII's famous warship, the Mary Rose. As well as being one of the first recorded black seafarers, Jacques is possibly one of the first black witnesses In a British court after he was called as a witness when his master was accused of stealing from two other wrecks. As the slave trade grew over the next 200 years, so did the numberofbonded black seafarers In the British fleet who served under their masters' name, and most of these go unrecorded. However, not all black seafarers In Britain at that time were slaves and the book also charts the careers of som e of those who are recorded in history. The book moves into the 19th century where research has found that, despite previous beliefs that not many black people lived in Britain until the 20th century, many port towns bad long established black communities. The 1851 census shows that the overwhelming majority of Immigrants from the British colonies were mariners and seamen's homes exclusively for non-white seafarers began to be established. By this time it was possible, although very difficult, for black seafarers to rise up the ranks, but those who did often found that the lack of respect from subordinates made the rank impossible to maintain. The best opportunities were onboard 'tramp' ships where black seam en of all ranks benefited from the large amount of work available and attained a degree of freedom and career progression. Unfortunately the attitudes towards non-white seafarers deteriorated in the early 20th century although the outbreak of war did provide opportunities for employment. The Second World War seemed destined to repeat the pattern and saw strikes by Indian and Chinese seamen which forced the British merchant fleet to realise their importance during the war's labour shortages. Attitudes and employment opportunities for black seafarers increased though the 20th century, especially with the Race Relations Act of1976 and the crew shortages of the 1960s and 70S. The book covers history to the present day where the declining shipping industry in the UK has hit all races hard, but equality is a more entrenched mind-set. Black Salt is a fascinating read which is hard to put down. It is as enjoyable as it is thought-provoking and covers an area of the British Merchant and Royal navies that is often over looked. Well worth the price tag. Nautilus International, Telegraph 201304 Black Salt is a fascinating read which is hard to put down. It is as enjoyable as it is thought-provoking and covers an area of the British Merchant and Royal navies that is often over looked. Well worth the price tag. Nautilus International, Telegraph 201304 Seafarers of Africa Descent on British Ships is a sweeping project in a small volume. The task Costello sets himself is to reveal the, as of yet barely explored, even ignored history of men of African descent serving on British ships (merchant and naval). His book is also meant to educate the British public about this history and to promote further research into the topic. The time frame of this work stretches from the sixteenth through to the end of the twentieth centuries, which is summarized in a four-page timeline, following the introduction. This is an ambitious undertaking which produces the most significant problem with the work. While the author is able to indicate the presence of Black people (he notes 'men') in Britain during the ninth century, he has his first evidence of their involvement in life afloat in 1547 with the story of a Black diver working on the wreck of the Mary Rose. This is followed by subsequent chapters on Britain's slave trade and the use of slaves and free Black men aboard slave ships and merchant ships as sailors. A chapter on men of African descent in the British Navy ends with the statement that, at the conclusion of the Napoleonic era, Black sailors were common aboard naval vessels, and while not totally accepted by all, had largely blended into the crews through their use of the English language and being Christians. These four chapters are based on stories of individual sailors, as told under their own hand or by others. Few and often brief, these stories are used to their maximum effect and extent. The absence of more extensive documentary evidence is the problem that confronts all those doing research on the race of British sailors before the middle of the nineteenth century. The story of Captain John Perkins is very interesting. Perkins, born in Jamaica to a white father and black mother in the mid-1700s, became what Costello declares as probably the first Royal Navy captain of African descent (pp.97-99). Admirals Rodney and Duckworth both seem to have played the role of patron for Perkins, providing him with local commissions leading up to his opportunity to command the 32-gun frigate Tartar in 1804. He appears to have served his career (and lived) entirely in the West Indies. As Costello moves into the late nineteenth century and through the First and Second World Wars, the book begins to build, becoming more powerful while based on a thicker layer of evidence. At the end of the age of sail, Black sailors had certainly obtained professional skill and importance aboard ship equal to any non-Black sailor, though full equality was not yet experienced. There were examples of ship masters of African descent and men of colour owning and operating their own merchant vessels. The transition to the age of steam seemed to unsettle this position, creating new class lines aboard ship through the technical innovations demanding professional operators and unskilled labour to stoke the engines. Black seamen were given the latter positions. Since owners of merchant shipping lines held the idea that people from tropical climates could better serve in the excruciatingly hot boiler rooms, more African men were taken on. This angered the white sailors as their opportunities for work began to disappear. The International Seafarer's Union did not seem to support all sailors equally. Service in the two world wars is addressed in separate chapters. During the First World War, Black sailors served afloat in the Merchant and Royal Navy earning heroic honours and professional acclaim. During the Second World War, Costello states that Black sailors were not recruited for the Royal Navy; indeed a March 1940 memorandum barred them from such service (pp.186-187). Their service to Britain came aboard Merchant Navy vessels, where, as before, their seamanship and bravery were not lacking. The interwar years, however, were a period of economic struggle for sailors of African descent and their families. Two critical elements laid bare by Costello are the amount of persistent prejudice against sailors of African descent and his examination of Black sailors' lives ashore, especially in Liverpool. Throughout the book Costello makes perfectly clear the amount of prejudice, discrimination and violence pitched against the Black seamen (and their families). Examples include the free Black sailor on a slave ship losing his freedom at journey's end, Admiral Young's 1777 order to limit the number of Black sailors aboard ship, through to the beatings of lone Black seamen in the streets of Liverpool, not to mention the limits to promotion in the navy prior to 1960. The inclusion of a discussion on eugenics and racism at the turn of the twentieth century and its role in shaping attitudes towards Black seamen is both interesting and important. The extended chapter entitled 'Blighty' is the first place where Costello lays out life ashore for Black seafarers. Using information pertaining to Greenwich pensioners, Black street hawkers and performers with ties to the sea, verse and census data for Liverpool, he starts to open a narrow window into their lived experience. The chapters focusing on the twentieth century spend more time ashore with men and their families, but it is the one entitled 'Sailortown Under Attack' that leaves the reader with a clear sense of the bleak racial relationships in Britain during the interwar years. These two aspects of the book alone make it a recommended reading for anyone interested the lives of sailors ashore and their experience afloat. The images in the book are helpful, though the most interesting are the four photographs which depict sailors of African descent. More of these photographs could have been added to the second half of the book. The other images, largely drawings, are fairly familiar. The index is usable, the bibliography is good, but the endnotes and references are not always consistently formatted. For example, TNA, PRO are used interchangeably for the British National Archives (p.225) which the reader is told is now called the Public Record Office (p.viii). These minor annoyances aside, Costello certainly accomplishes the goal of opening up the study of Black seamen in British merchant and naval ships. More work is to be done, but the start is here, with this book. -- Thomas Malcomson The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord, Vol. XXIII, No. 2 201304 Costello certainly accomplishes the goal of opening up the study of Black seamen in British merchant and naval ships. More work is to be done, but the start is here, with this book. The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord, Vol. XXIII, No. 2 201304 Riffling through almost four centuries, the author of Black Salt considers the history of British seafarers of African and Afro-Caribbean descent, attempting to shine new light on an overlooked group of servicemen . Ray Costello, an academic writing here for a general audience, discusses their lives at sea and ashore, the Royal Navy as well as the merchant marine. The book clearly stems from the author's lifelong passion for-and expertise in-the history of the African diaspora and the black experience in Britain, in particular the city of Liverpool. It's based on considerable research and is packed with numerous stories, anecdotes, and first hand testimonies. The book opens with a review of the slave trade, and particularly enlightening is the author's examination of black crewmen on slave ships. Moving through the 18th and 19th centuries, Costello notes that Royal Navy enlistment afforded to black seamen a protection they did not find elsewhere in the Anglo-American world. He analyses the increase of a black presence ashore in the major British ports, then moves to a discussion of the status and social class of seafarers of all ethnicities. Costello's consideration of the transition from sail to steam, and the concomitant effect on the black seafarer, is of interest. Essentially he asserts that this drove most of the men below decks into menial stoker and steward billets. The author believes that toward the end of the 19th and into the 20th century, the evidence reveals a significant increase in negative attitudes toward non-white seafarers. Much of this, he says, was not specific to seafaring society either afloat or ashore, but more of a wider sea-change in the British psyche and that of other Europeans concerning the assumption of the natural inferiority of black people. Costello notes that stances such as this remained strong through World War II, when black sea-farers were blatantly excluded from the Royal Navy. Happily, though, the author notes that progress was made after Empire , in the form of not only a rebroadening of opportunities at sea, but also as a more general trend across society. Costello concludes by expressing the hope that he has addressed a historical omission and demonstrated that black seamen of British ships served as by no means a peripheral force within the British Royal and mercantile navies. Black Salt covers a very wide range of topics. Costello provides even a surplus of minutiae. All professional writers and serious researches should guard against the temptation to include everything they know on a given subject. In this case, judicious pruning to streamline the work, to keep the story on course by eliminating considerable amounts of trivia and anecdotes, would have helped. Only in some chapters does the narrative carry through with detail that supports what is being related, versus the detail standing as the narrative. Moreover, although Costello writes clearly with an admirable command of the language, the book seems like a doctoral dissertation in its structure and presentation (even though his was on another African-diaspora topic). He begins with a very academic construct and throughout the text he continually quotes other scholars by name. This is extremely disruptive to the narrative flow in a general audience book. There's considerable repetition of points throughout the chapters, along with a great deal of jumping back and forth in time. This is confusing. The author should have effected a transformation from scholarly writing to a more conventional narrative history, which would have made Black Salt more accessible. Even though Costello's area of expertise encompasses the black community in Liverpool, his close focus on that city gives the book a bit of an unbalanced coverage. Finally, in its exorbitant price the author id disserved by his publisher. Nevertheless, this work is of value particularly to those interested in comprehensively collecting in the areas of black studies and maritime studies. -- Captain Steven E. Maffeco US Navy Reserve (Retired) Naval History 201306 ... this work is of value particularly to those interested in comprehensively collecting in the areas of black studies and maritime studies. Naval History 201306
Written with enthusiasm and a joy to read, Costello enlightens the reader with numerous fascinating stories and anecdotes as well as previously unpublished first-hand testimonies of black seafarers and their adventures at sea and on land, some positive, others tragic. History Today 201211
Written with enthusiasm and a joy to read, Costello enlightens the reader with numerous fascinating stories and anecdotes as well as previously unpublished first-hand testimonies of black seafarers and their adventures at sea and on land, some positive, others tragic. History Today 201211 The price tag of this book may put some potential buyers on the back foot but it is a very nicely presented and incredibly well researched look at the history of black seafarers in Britain. Although black seafarers are believed to have been a part of the British maritime industry as far back as the 9th century, the first record of a black seafarer was In 1547, when slave Jacques Francis, along with his master, joined an expedition to salvage Henry VIII's famous warship, the Mary Rose. As well as being one of the first recorded black seafarers, Jacques is possibly one of the first black witnesses In a British court after he was called as a witness when his master was accused of stealing from two other wrecks. As the slave trade grew over the next 200 years, so did the numberofbonded black seafarers In the British fleet who served under their masters' name, and most of these go unrecorded. However, not all black seafarers In Britain at that time were slaves and the book also charts the careers of som e of those who are recorded in history. The book moves into the 19th century where research has found that, despite previous beliefs that not many black people lived in Britain until the 20th century, many port towns bad long established black communities. The 1851 census shows that the overwhelming majority of Immigrants from the British colonies were mariners and seamen's homes exclusively for non-white seafarers began to be established. By this time it was possible, although very difficult, for black seafarers to rise up the ranks, but those who did often found that the lack of respect from subordinates made the rank impossible to maintain. The best opportunities were onboard 'tramp' ships where black seam en of all ranks benefited from the large amount of work available and attained a degree of freedom and career progression. Unfortunately the attitudes towards non-white seafarers deteriorated in the early 20th century although the outbreak of war did provide opportunities for employment. The Second World War seemed destined to repeat the pattern and saw strikes by Indian and Chinese seamen which forced the British merchant fleet to realise their importance during the war's labour shortages. Attitudes and employment opportunities for black seafarers increased though the 20th century, especially with the Race Relations Act of1976 and the crew shortages of the 1960s and 70S. The book covers history to the present day where the declining shipping industry in the UK has hit all races hard, but equality is a more entrenched mind-set. Black Salt is a fascinating read which is hard to put down. It is as enjoyable as it is thought-provoking and covers an area of the British Merchant and Royal navies that is often over looked. Well worth the price tag. Nautilus International, Telegraph 201304 Black Salt is a fascinating read which is hard to put down. It is as enjoyable as it is thought-provoking and covers an area of the British Merchant and Royal navies that is often over looked. Well worth the price tag. Nautilus International, Telegraph 201304 Seafarers of Africa Descent on British Ships is a sweeping project in a small volume. The task Costello sets himself is to reveal the, as of yet barely explored, even ignored history of men of African descent serving on British ships (merchant and naval). His book is also meant to educate the British public about this history and to promote further research into the topic. The time frame of this work stretches from the sixteenth through to the end of the twentieth centuries, which is summarized in a four-page timeline, following the introduction. This is an ambitious undertaking which produces the most significant problem with the work. While the author is able to indicate the presence of Black people (he notes 'men') in Britain during the ninth century, he has his first evidence of their involvement in life afloat in 1547 with the story of a Black diver working on the wreck of the Mary Rose. This is followed by subsequent chapters on Britain's slave trade and the use of slaves and free Black men aboard slave ships and merchant ships as sailors. A chapter on men of African descent in the British Navy ends with the statement that, at the conclusion of the Napoleonic era, Black sailors were common aboard naval vessels, and while not totally accepted by all, had largely blended into the crews through their use of the English language and being Christians. These four chapters are based on stories of individual sailors, as told under their own hand or by others. Few and often brief, these stories are used to their maximum effect and extent. The absence of more extensive documentary evidence is the problem that confronts all those doing research on the race of British sailors before the middle of the nineteenth century. The story of Captain John Perkins is very interesting. Perkins, born in Jamaica to a white father and black mother in the mid-1700s, became what Costello declares as probably the first Royal Navy captain of African descent (pp.97-99). Admirals Rodney and Duckworth both seem to have played the role of patron for Perkins, providing him with local commissions leading up to his opportunity to command the 32-gun frigate Tartar in 1804. He appears to have served his career (and lived) entirely in the West Indies. As Costello moves into the late nineteenth century and through the First and Second World Wars, the book begins to build, becoming more powerful while based on a thicker layer of evidence. At the end of the age of sail, Black sailors had certainly obtained professional skill and importance aboard ship equal to any non-Black sailor, though full equality was not yet experienced. There were examples of ship masters of African descent and men of colour owning and operating their own merchant vessels. The transition to the age of steam seemed to unsettle this position, creating new class lines aboard ship through the technical innovations demanding professional operators and unskilled labour to stoke the engines. Black seamen were given the latter positions. Since owners of merchant shipping lines held the idea that people from tropical climates could better serve in the excruciatingly hot boiler rooms, more African men were taken on. This angered the white sailors as their opportunities for work began to disappear. The International Seafarer's Union did not seem to support all sailors equally. Service in the two world wars is addressed in separate chapters. During the First World War, Black sailors served afloat in the Merchant and Royal Navy earning heroic honours and professional acclaim. During the Second World War, Costello states that Black sailors were not recruited for the Royal Navy; indeed a March 1940 memorandum barred them from such service (pp.186-187). Their service to Britain came aboard Merchant Navy vessels, where, as before, their seamanship and bravery were not lacking. The interwar years, however, were a period of economic struggle for sailors of African descent and their families. Two critical elements laid bare by Costello are the amount of persistent prejudice against sailors of African descent and his examination of Black sailors' lives ashore, especially in Liverpool. Throughout the book Costello makes perfectly clear the amount of prejudice, discrimination and violence pitched against the Black seamen (and their families). Examples include the free Black sailor on a slave ship losing his freedom at journey's end, Admiral Young's 1777 order to limit the number of Black sailors aboard ship, through to the beatings of lone Black seamen in the streets of Liverpool, not to mention the limits to promotion in the navy prior to 1960. The inclusion of a discussion on eugenics and racism at the turn of the twentieth century and its role in shaping attitudes towards Black seamen is both interesting and important. The extended chapter entitled 'Blighty' is the first place where Costello lays out life ashore for Black seafarers. Using information pertaining to Greenwich pensioners, Black street hawkers and performers with ties to the sea, verse and census data for Liverpool, he starts to open a narrow window into their lived experience. The chapters focusing on the twentieth century spend more time ashore with men and their families, but it is the one entitled 'Sailortown Under Attack' that leaves the reader with a clear sense of the bleak racial relationships in Britain during the interwar years. These two aspects of the book alone make it a recommended reading for anyone interested the lives of sailors ashore and their experience afloat. The images in the book are helpful, though the most interesting are the four photographs which depict sailors of African descent. More of these photographs could have been added to the second half of the book. The other images, largely drawings, are fairly familiar. The index is usable, the bibliography is good, but the endnotes and references are not always consistently formatted. For example, TNA, PRO are used interchangeably for the British National Archives (p.225) which the reader is told is now called the Public Record Office (p.viii). These minor annoyances aside, Costello certainly accomplishes the goal of opening up the study of Black seamen in British merchant and naval ships. More work is to be done, but the start is here, with this book. -- Thomas Malcomson The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord, Vol. XXIII, No. 2 201304 Costello certainly accomplishes the goal of opening up the study of Black seamen in British merchant and naval ships. More work is to be done, but the start is here, with this book. The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord, Vol. XXIII, No. 2 201304 Riffling through almost four centuries, the author of Black Salt considers the history of British seafarers of African and Afro-Caribbean descent, attempting to shine new light on an overlooked group of servicemen . Ray Costello, an academic writing here for a general audience, discusses their lives at sea and ashore, the Royal Navy as well as the merchant marine. The book clearly stems from the author's lifelong passion for-and expertise in-the history of the African diaspora and the black experience in Britain, in particular the city of Liverpool. It's based on considerable research and is packed with numerous stories, anecdotes, and first hand testimonies. The book opens with a review of the slave trade, and particularly enlightening is the author's examination of black crewmen on slave ships. Moving through the 18th and 19th centuries, Costello notes that Royal Navy enlistment afforded to black seamen a protection they did not find elsewhere in the Anglo-American world. He analyses the increase of a black presence ashore in the major British ports, then moves to a discussion of the status and social class of seafarers of all ethnicities. Costello's consideration of the transition from sail to steam, and the concomitant effect on the black seafarer, is of interest. Essentially he asserts that this drove most of the men below decks into menial stoker and steward billets. The author believes that toward the end of the 19th and into the 20th century, the evidence reveals a significant increase in negative attitudes toward non-white seafarers. Much of this, he says, was not specific to seafaring society either afloat or ashore, but more of a wider sea-change in the British psyche and that of other Europeans concerning the assumption of the natural inferiority of black people. Costello notes that stances such as this remained strong through World War II, when black sea-farers were blatantly excluded from the Royal Navy. Happily, though, the author notes that progress was made after Empire , in the form of not only a rebroadening of opportunities at sea, but also as a more general trend across society. Costello concludes by expressing the hope that he has addressed a historical omission and demonstrated that black seamen of British ships served as by no means a peripheral force within the British Royal and mercantile navies. Black Salt covers a very wide range of topics. Costello provides even a surplus of minutiae. All professional writers and serious researches should guard against the temptation to include everything they know on a given subject. In this case, judicious pruning to streamline the work, to keep the story on course by eliminating considerable amounts of trivia and anecdotes, would have helped. Only in some chapters does the narrative carry through with detail that supports what is being related, versus the detail standing as the narrative. Moreover, although Costello writes clearly with an admirable command of the language, the book seems like a doctoral dissertation in its structure and presentation (even though his was on another African-diaspora topic). He begins with a very academic construct and throughout the text he continually quotes other scholars by name. This is extremely disruptive to the narrative flow in a general audience book. There's considerable repetition of points throughout the chapters, along with a great deal of jumping back and forth in time. This is confusing. The author should have effected a transformation from scholarly writing to a more conventional narrative history, which would have made Black Salt more accessible. Even though Costello's area of expertise encompasses the black community in Liverpool, his close focus on that city gives the book a bit of an unbalanced coverage. Finally, in its exorbitant price the author id disserved by his publisher. Nevertheless, this work is of value particularly to those interested in comprehensively collecting in the areas of black studies and maritime studies. -- Captain Steven E. Maffeco US Navy Reserve (Retired) Naval History 201306 ... this work is of value particularly to those interested in comprehensively collecting in the areas of black studies and maritime studies. Naval History 201306 Black Salt is an ambitious project: its objective is to document the history of seafarers of African descent over several centuries, by examining their work and experience in a range of different maritime contexts. As befits such a sweeping subject, the lives and stories that Ray Costello has used to construct his narrative are drawn from a wide and disparate range of sources, and they highlight a panoply of experiences: from impressed slaves to free Africans, British West Indians to British-born black sailors. For Costello, the black presence on British ships is a contradictory one: it is both 'ubiquitous' but also 'seemingly invisible' (p. 210). In many ways, his fascinating book is an attempt to address that invisibility and locate this story at the heart of British maritime history. In doing so, Black Salt manages to uncover a number of hitherto unknown, or at least little-known, histories. It also succeeds in conveying something of the contribution made by seamen from the Caribbean and Africa to the Royal Navy ships and British merchant vessels over the centuries. In his previous publications Costello has made an important contribution to the history of Liverpool and its black community, with books such as Black Liverpool (2001) and Liverpool's Black Pioneers (2007). Given his earlier focus on one of the world's most important ports, Costello's investigation of maritime matters seems like a natural progression. The chronological starting point for this study is the Tudor period, at which time (and onwards, until the end of the British involvement in the transatlantic slave trade) at least three per cent of all crewmen on British ships were black. Costello manages not only to provide this striking statistical evidence to sustain his argument, but also include vivid personal stories that readers will find intriguing and engaging in equal measure. In relation to the Tudor period, for example, readers are offered the first-hand account of black seamen such as Jacques Francis, an African diver who gave evidence in court on the reclamation project that followed the sinking of Henry VIII's ship, the Mary Rose. A much more familiar figure is Olaudah Equiano. Despite the fact that a scholarly debate about his place of birth and his personal experiences as a young boy has intensified over the past few years, Equiano is probably still the most famous and most instantly recognizable black sailor of the eighteenth century. Costello acknowledges the work of Vincent Carretta in this area, and moves on to contextualize Equiano's role in the campaign to abolish the transatlantic slave trade. Crucially, however, this is set alongside his earlier career in the Royal Navy. One of the most intriguing aspects of Equiano's story is his transformation over the course of his naval service. From his fear of the press gang at the outset, Equiano goes on to provide some of the most vivid and colourful descriptions of eighteenth-century naval warfare. His account of the Battle of Quiberon Bay, for example, is a classic account of one of the most important naval engagements of the Seven Years War. In highlighting these aspects of Equiano's life, and in setting them in a wider historical context, Costello succeeds in situating black British seafaring history at the heart of maritime history. There are unfamiliar characters in the book too, as Costello introduces us to less-celebrated figures who, like Francis and Equiano, play their part in building up a fascinating picture of black seafarers. These include the story of John Perkins, a Jamaican-born sailor who rose from obscurity to become possibly the first British captain of African descent in the eighteenthcentury Royal Navy. And there is the story of William Hall. Hall was born in Nova Scotia, the son of slaves who were being transported from West Africa to America when they were intercepted by a British warship during the Anglo-American War of 1812-14 and liberated at Halifax. Hall joined the Royal Navy in 1852 and fought in the Crimean War. But he gained his highest accolade for his actions at Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny. For his courage under fire, Hall was awarded the Victoria Cross and became the first black person (as well as the first Canadian) to receive that honour. Black Salt has much to recommend it: it is well researched and written by someone with an obvious passion for the subject. The focus on retrieving contemporary narratives, whether written or dictated, is highly commendable and creates a sort of prosopographical account of black British sailors. As an approach, it succeeds in giving voices to these people and drawing attention to the interest and importance of their previously under-researched histories. Of course, in making the decision to embark on such an ambitious project, there are areas that are more lightly touched upon than others. Indeed, in focusing on such a broad sweep of history - however justified it might be by the subject - one inevitably loses a certain amount of specificity and historical detail. The experiences of black sailors, the contexts and circumstances in which they lived and worked, and the perceptions of them by those around them changed markedly over the period covered in this book. One might also cite similar concerns about the geographical range of much of the discussion. As home to one of Britain's longest-established black communities, Liverpool provides a natural focus for much of this work, and the archival records of that city and its maritime activities yield rich pickings for Costello. One might suggest, however, that a greater awareness of other ports around the country would have enriched the story. Similarly, it might have assisted the reader, and contributed to future scholarship on this aspect of Britain's maritime history, if the bibliography (not just the endnotes) had included a list of the primary sources that Costello used so effectively. But these are minor quibbles and should not detract from the achievements of this book. In a similar way to W. Jeffrey Bolster's Black Jacks: African American seamen in the age of sail, Ray Costello's work now fills a gap in British maritime historiography. The Mariner's Mirror, Volume 99, Issue 3 2013 Black Salt has much to recommend it: it is well researched and written by someone with an obvious passion for the subject. The focus on retrieving contemporary narratives, whether written or dictated, is highly commendable and creates a sort of prosopographical account of black British sailors ... Ray Costello's work now fills a gap in British maritime historiography. The Mariner's Mirror, Volume 99, Issue 3 2013 Beginning in the seventeenth century through the mid-twentieth century, the growth and size of Britain's Black population was directly related to it being a seafaring nation. Britain's role in global trade, especially its commercial relationship with Africa and the Americas, paved the way for its dependence upon an abundance of African seamen. Subsequently, these seafarers were central to the development and maintenance of Britain's Black population as well as providing essential labour for sea-going needs. Ray Costello's Black Salt; Seafarers ofAfrican Descent on British Ships offers an engaging examination of the presence and roles of Black seamen in the Royal Navy and the Merchant Marine. Through the use of appropriate secondary sources, official records, personal accounts, and oral interviews, Costello vividly displays the circumstances of Black seamen not only at sea but on land as well, in the seaports or sailortowns where they often disembarked and resided. Spanning several centuries, the study is rather ambitious in its scope; however, throughout the period it maintains its intent and focus to reveal the presence and role of Black seamen within the context of their labour and service. By clearly defining their roles and skills as seamen, Costello presents a convincing argument that these seamen provided critical service to both the British navy and Britain's merchant marine during times of commercial growth or depression, peace or war. Black seamen performed practically every job aboard ship from cook to boatswain. Whether they were on a slave vessel or Admiral Nelson's flagship their skill and service was respected by officers and fellow crewmen. One of the reasons why this study is a must read for those who are interested in maritime history is that, in the growing body ofliterature on Black seamen, Costello's book adds a new dimension to the narrative. His use of the sources allows him to personalize the experience of African seamen. Through letters,journal entries, and oral interviews he relates the general conditions to individuals. For example, the story of Adam Jema clearly reveals the fate of many Black seamen during the era of the Slave Trade when their labour and freedom could be usurped at any time. This may cause one to question the notion that the sea or the ship had a democratizing effect which limited the cruelty and oppression ofrace or even class. Conditions may have caused seamen, both black and white, to form common bonds or generate a sense of brotherhood. However, there is much evidence that this did not significantly eliminate or deter the negative treatment of Black seamen. Moreover, Costello does not shy away from issues of race and colour, he hits them head on. He understands that race and colour played a significant role in defining the position and condition ofthese seamen aboard ship and on land. It is impossible to ignore the role of race and colour in the naval career of Jamaican-born John Perkins. Although a skilled seaman, Perkins' career was dubiously aided by his colour, being used as a spy in Havana and as a negotiator in Haiti. Issues associated with race were also prevalent in the careers of other notable seamen such as the well-known Olaudah Equiano, Jacob Christian, William Hall, and even Neville Bryce. Costello maintains that their race or colour affected their mobility, status, and life's chances. To be sure, what clearly separates Costello's work from others is his inclusion of the seaport towns that were associated with British shipping and Black seamen, especially Liverpool. Because Costello is a native resident of Liverpool, one may expect him to focus on this area. However, the fact is that Liverpool, more than any other port, was essential to Britain's shipping industry, especially in regards to Black seamen. Costello does a masterful job ofweaving Liverpool into the narrative from the period of the Slave Trade through the post-World War II era. Costello notes how Liverpool was positioned to provide a home or refuge for these seamen and at the same time the seamen were at the centre of the many social and political issues that stirred Liverpool and other port cities during the first half of the twentieth century, beginning with the riots of 1919 and ending with the disturbances of 1948. The riots of 1919 are viewed as a critical moment in the evolution of race relations in twentieth-century Britain. Not only did the riots cause officialdom to become more alarmed with the concentration of Blacks in the seaports, they spurred the government and the shipping industry to consider policies that would limit the presence, mobility, and labouring opportunities for Black seamen. The adoption of the Alien Orders was a direct attack on the livelihood of Black seamen. At this point Costello could have done more to relay the significance of the riots and the Alien Orders. There are numerous Home Office and Colonial Office files that reveal the mindset of officialdom. In addition, an examination of Laura Tabili's study on workers and racial difference or Jacqueline Jenkins' work on riots and racism in Britain would have added insights to his perspective. Black Salt is a valuable contribution to British maritime history and social history. By documenting the presence of Black seamen within the context of major transformations in British society, the study allows the reader to see how Britain processed the evolution of a Black population that was largely seamen. Costello also casually contends that the study may be viewed within the perimeters of Paul Gilroy's Black Atlantic paradigm. This contention raises certain questions associated with the various interpretations of Gilroy's Black Atlantic, especially concerning issues of identity. Black Salt is, however, an important resource for scholars who are first and foremost interested in maritime history; it is also useful for scholars who study the many dimensions of the African Diaspora. -- Carlton E. Wilson International Journal of Maritime History 201212 Black Salt is a valuable contribution to British maritime history and social history. By documenting the presence of Black seamen within the context of major transformations in British society, the study allows the reader to see how Britain processed the evolution of a Black population that was largely seamen. Black Salt is, however, an important resource for scholars who are first and foremost interested in maritime history; it is also useful for scholars who study the many dimensions of the African Diaspora. International Journal of Maritime History 201212
Written with enthusiasm and a joy to read, Costello enlightens the reader with numerous fascinating stories and anecdotes as well as previously unpublished first-hand testimonies of black seafarers and their adventures at sea and on land, some positive, others tragic. The price tag of this book may put some potential buyers on the back foot but it is a very nicely presented and incredibly well researched look at the history of black seafarers in Britain. Although black seafarers are believed to have been a part of the British maritime industry as far back as the 9th century, the first record of a black seafarer was In 1547, when slave Jacques Francis, along with his master, joined an expedition to salvage Henry VIII's famous warship, the Mary Rose. As well as being one of the first recorded black seafarers, Jacques is possibly one of the first black witnesses In a British court after he was called as a witness when his master was accused of stealing from two other wrecks. As the slave trade grew over the next 200 years, so did the numberofbonded black seafarers In the British fleet who served under their masters' name, and most of these go unrecorded. However, not all black seafarers In Britain at that time were slaves and the book also charts the careers of som e of those who are recorded in history. The book moves into the 19th century where research has found that, despite previous beliefs that not many black people lived in Britain until the 20th century, many port towns bad long established black communities. The 1851 census shows that the overwhelming majority of Immigrants from the British colonies were mariners and seamen's homes exclusively for non-white seafarers began to be established. By this time it was possible, although very difficult, for black seafarers to rise up the ranks, but those who did often found that the lack of respect from subordinates made the rank impossible to maintain. The best opportunities were onboard 'tramp' ships where black seam en of all ranks benefited from the large amount of work available and attained a degree of freedom and career progression. Unfortunately the attitudes towards non-white seafarers deteriorated in the early 20th century although the outbreak of war did provide opportunities for employment. The Second World War seemed destined to repeat the pattern and saw strikes by Indian and Chinese seamen which forced the British merchant fleet to realise their importance during the war's labour shortages. Attitudes and employment opportunities for black seafarers increased though the 20th century, especially with the Race Relations Act of1976 and the crew shortages of the 1960s and 70S. The book covers history to the present day where the declining shipping industry in the UK has hit all races hard, but equality is a more entrenched mind-set. Black Salt is a fascinating read which is hard to put down. It is as enjoyable as it is thought---provoking and covers an area of the British Merchant and Royal navies that is often over looked. Well worth the price tag. Black Salt is a fascinating read which is hard to put down. It is as enjoyable as it is thought-provoking and covers an area of the British Merchant and Royal navies that is often over looked. Well worth the price tag. Seafarers of Africa Descent on British Ships is a sweeping project in a small volume. The task Costello sets himself is to reveal the, as of yet barely explored, even ignored history of men of African descent serving on British ships (merchant and naval). His book is also meant to educate the British public about this history and to promote further research into the topic. The time frame of this work stretches from the sixteenth through to the end of the twentieth centuries, which is summarized in a four-page timeline, following the introduction. This is an ambitious undertaking which produces the most significant problem with the work. While the author is able to indicate the presence of Black people (he notes 'men') in Britain during the ninth century, he has his first evidence of their involvement in life afloat in 1547 with the story of a Black diver working on the wreck of the Mary Rose. This is followed by subsequent chapters on Britain's slave trade and the use of slaves and free Black men aboard slave ships and merchant ships as sailors. A chapter on men of African descent in the British Navy ends with the statement that, at the conclusion of the Napoleonic era, Black sailors were common aboard naval vessels, and while not totally accepted by all, had largely blended into the crews through their use of the English language and being Christians. These four chapters are based on stories of individual sailors, as told under their own hand or by others. Few and often brief, these stories are used to their maximum effect and extent. The absence of more extensive documentary evidence is the problem that confronts all those doing research on the race of British sailors before the middle of the nineteenth century. The story of Captain John Perkins is very interesting. Perkins, born in Jamaica to a white father and black mother in the mid-1700s, became what Costello declares as probably the first Royal Navy captain of African descent (pp.97-99). Admirals Rodney and Duckworth both seem to have played the role of patron for Perkins, providing him with local commissions leading up to his opportunity to command the 32-gun frigate Tartar in 1804. He appears to have served his career (and lived) entirely in the West Indies. As Costello moves into the late nineteenth century and through the First and Second World Wars, the book begins to build, becoming more powerful while based on a thicker layer of evidence. At the end of the age of sail, Black sailors had certainly obtained professional skill and importance aboard ship equal to any non-Black sailor, though full equality was not yet experienced. There were examples of ship masters of African descent and men of colour owning and operating their own merchant vessels. The transition to the age of steam seemed to unsettle this position, creating new class lines aboard ship through the technical innovations demanding professional operators and unskilled labour to stoke the engines. Black seamen were given the latter positions. Since owners of merchant shipping lines held the idea that people from tropical climates could better serve in the excruciatingly hot boiler rooms, more African men were taken on. This angered the white sailors as their opportunities for work began to disappear. The International Seafarer's Union did not seem to support all sailors equally. Service in the two world wars is addressed in separate chapters. During the First World War, Black sailors served afloat in the Merchant and Royal Navy earning heroic honours and professional acclaim. During the Second World War, Costello states that Black sailors were not recruited for the Royal Navy; indeed a March 1940 memorandum barred them from such service (pp.186-187). Their service to Britain came aboard Merchant Navy vessels, where, as before, their seamanship and bravery were not lacking. The interwar years, however, were a period of economic struggle for sailors of African descent and their families. Two critical elements laid bare by Costello are the amount of persistent prejudice against sailors of African descent and his examination of Black sailors' lives ashore, especially in Liverpool. Throughout the book Costello makes perfectly clear the amount of prejudice, discrimination and violence pitched against the Black seamen (and their families). Examples include the free Black sailor on a slave ship losing his freedom at journey's end, Admiral Young's 1777 order to limit the number of Black sailors aboard ship, through to the beatings of lone Black seamen in the streets of Liverpool, not to mention the limits to promotion in the navy prior to 1960. The inclusion of a discussion on eugenics and racism at the turn of the twentieth century and its role in shaping attitudes towards Black seamen is both interesting and important. The extended chapter entitled 'Blighty' is the first place where Costello lays out life ashore for Black seafarers. Using information pertaining to Greenwich pensioners, Black street hawkers and performers with ties to the sea, verse and census data for Liverpool, he starts to open a narrow window into their lived experience. The chapters focusing on the twentieth century spend more time ashore with men and their families, but it is the one entitled 'Sailortown Under Attack' that leaves the reader with a clear sense of the bleak racial relationships in Britain during the interwar years. These two aspects of the book alone make it a recommended reading for anyone interested the lives of sailors ashore and their experience afloat. The images in the book are helpful, though the most interesting are the four photographs which depict sailors of African descent. More of these photographs could have been added to the second half of the book. The other images, largely drawings, are fairly familiar. The index is usable, the bibliography is good, but the endnotes and references are not always consistently formatted. For example, TNA, PRO are used interchangeably for the British National Archives (p.225) which the reader is told is now called the Public Record Office (p.viii). These minor annoyances aside, Costello certainly accomplishes the goal of opening up the study of Black seamen in British merchant and naval ships. More work is to be done, but the start is here, with this book. Costello certainly accomplishes the goal of opening up the study of Black seamen in British merchant and naval ships. More work is to be done, but the start is here, with this book. Riffling through almost four centuries, the author of Black Salt considers the history of British seafarers of African and Afro-Caribbean descent, attempting to shine new light on an overlooked group of servicemen . Ray Costello, an academic writing here for a general audience, discusses their lives at sea and ashore, the Royal Navy as well as the merchant marine. The book clearly stems from the author's lifelong passion for-and expertise in-the history of the African diaspora and the black experience in Britain, in particular the city of Liverpool. It's based on considerable research and is packed with numerous stories, anecdotes, and first hand testimonies. The book opens with a review of the slave trade, and particularly enlightening is the author's examination of black crewmen on slave ships. Moving through the 18th and 19th centuries, Costello notes that Royal Navy enlistment afforded to black seamen a protection they did not find elsewhere in the Anglo-American world. He analyses the increase of a black presence ashore in the major British ports, then moves to a discussion of the status and social class of seafarers of all ethnicities. Costello's consideration of the transition from sail to steam, and the concomitant effect on the black seafarer, is of interest. Essentially he asserts that this drove most of the men below decks into menial stoker and steward billets. The author believes that toward the end of the 19th and into the 20th century, the evidence reveals a significant increase in negative attitudes toward non-white seafarers. Much of this, he says, was not specific to seafaring society either afloat or ashore, but more of a wider sea-change in the British psyche and that of other Europeans concerning the assumption of the natural inferiority of black people. Costello notes that stances such as this remained strong through World War II, when black sea-farers were blatantly excluded from the Royal Navy. Happily, though, the author notes that progress was made after Empire , in the form of not only a rebroadening of opportunities at sea, but also as a more general trend across society. Costello concludes by expressing the hope that he has addressed a historical omission and demonstrated that black seamen of British ships served as by no means a peripheral force within the British Royal and mercantile navies. Black Salt covers a very wide range of topics. Costello provides even a surplus of minutiae. All professional writers and serious researches should guard against the temptation to include everything they know on a given subject. In this case, judicious pruning to streamline the work, to keep the story on course by eliminating considerable amounts of trivia and anecdotes, would have helped. Only in some chapters does the narrative carry through with detail that supports what is being related, versus the detail standing as the narrative. Moreover, although Costello writes clearly with an admirable command of the language, the book seems like a doctoral dissertation in its structure and presentation (even though his was on another African-diaspora topic). He begins with a very academic construct and throughout the text he continually quotes other scholars by name. This is extremely disruptive to the narrative flow in a general audience book. There's considerable repetition of points throughout the chapters, along with a great deal of jumping back and forth in time. This is confusing. The author should have effected a transformation from scholarly writing to a more conventional narrative history, which would have made Black Salt more accessible. Even though Costello's area of expertise encompasses the black community in Liverpool, his close focus on that city gives the book a bit of an unbalanced coverage. Finally, in its exorbitant price the author id disserved by his publisher. Nevertheless, this work is of value particularly to those interested in comprehensively collecting in the areas of black studies and maritime studies. ... this work is of value particularly to those interested in comprehensively collecting in the areas of black studies and maritime studies. Black Salt is an ambitious project: its objective is to document the history of seafarers of African descent over several centuries, by examining their work and experience in a range of different maritime contexts. As befits such a sweeping subject, the lives and stories that Ray Costello has used to construct his narrative are drawn from a wide and disparate range of sources, and they highlight a panoply of experiences: from impressed slaves to free Africans, British West Indians to British-born black sailors. For Costello, the black presence on British ships is a contradictory one: it is both 'ubiquitous' but also 'seemingly invisible' (p. 210). In many ways, his fascinating book is an attempt to address that invisibility and locate this story at the heart of British maritime history. In doing so, Black Salt manages to uncover a number of hitherto unknown, or at least little-known, histories. It also succeeds in conveying something of the contribution made by seamen from the Caribbean and Africa to the Royal Navy ships and British merchant vessels over the centuries. In his previous publications Costello has made an important contribution to the history of Liverpool and its black community, with books such as Black Liverpool (2001) and Liverpool's Black Pioneers (2007). Given his earlier focus on one of the world's most important ports, Costello's investigation of maritime matters seems like a natural progression. The chronological starting point for this study is the Tudor period, at which time (and onwards, until the end of the British involvement in the transatlantic slave trade) at least three per cent of all crewmen on British ships were black. Costello manages not only to provide this striking statistical evidence to sustain his argument, but also include vivid personal stories that readers will find intriguing and engaging in equal measure. In relation to the Tudor period, for example, readers are offered the first-hand account of black seamen such as Jacques Francis, an African diver who gave evidence in court on the reclamation project that followed the sinking of Henry VIII's ship, the Mary Rose. A much more familiar figure is Olaudah Equiano. Despite the fact that a scholarly debate about his place of birth and his personal experiences as a young boy has intensified over the past few years, Equiano is probably still the most famous and most instantly recognizable black sailor of the eighteenth century. Costello acknowledges the work of Vincent Carretta in this area, and moves on to contextualize Equiano's role in the campaign to abolish the transatlantic slave trade. Crucially, however, this is set alongside his earlier career in the Royal Navy. One of the most intriguing aspects of Equiano's story is his transformation over the course of his naval service. From his fear of the press gang at the outset, Equiano goes on to provide some of the most vivid and colourful descriptions of eighteenth-century naval warfare. His account of the Battle of Quiberon Bay, for example, is a classic account of one of the most important naval engagements of the Seven Years War. In highlighting these aspects of Equiano's life, and in setting them in a wider historical context, Costello succeeds in situating black British seafaring history at the heart of maritime history. There are unfamiliar characters in the book too, as Costello introduces us to less-celebrated figures who, like Francis and Equiano, play their part in building up a fascinating picture of black seafarers. These include the story of John Perkins, a Jamaican-born sailor who rose from obscurity to become possibly the first British captain of African descent in the eighteenthcentury Royal Navy. And there is the story of William Hall. Hall was born in Nova Scotia, the son of slaves who were being transported from West Africa to America when they were intercepted by a British warship during the Anglo-American War of 1812-14 and liberated at Halifax. Hall joined the Royal Navy in 1852 and fought in the Crimean War. But he gained his highest accolade for his actions at Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny. For his courage under fire, Hall was awarded the Victoria Cross and became the first black person (as well as the first Canadian) to receive that honour. Black Salt has much to recommend it: it is well researched and written by someone with an obvious passion for the subject. The focus on retrieving contemporary narratives, whether written or dictated, is highly commendable and creates a sort of prosopographical account of black British sailors. As an approach, it succeeds in giving voices to these people and drawing attention to the interest and importance of their previously under-researched histories. Of course, in making the decision to embark on such an ambitious project, there are areas that are more lightly touched upon than others. Indeed, in focusing on such a broad sweep of history - however justified it might be by the subject - one inevitably loses a certain amount of specificity and historical detail. The experiences of black sailors, the contexts and circumstances in which they lived and worked, and the perceptions of them by those around them changed markedly over the period covered in this book. One might also cite similar concerns about the geographical range of much of the discussion. As home to one of Britain's longest-established black communities, Liverpool provides a natural focus for much of this work, and the archival records of that city and its maritime activities yield rich pickings for Costello. One might suggest, however, that a greater awareness of other ports around the country would have enriched the story. Similarly, it might have assisted the reader, and contributed to future scholarship on this aspect of Britain's maritime history, if the bibliography (not just the endnotes) had included a list of the primary sources that Costello used so effectively. But these are minor quibbles and should not detract from the achievements of this book. In a similar way to W. Jeffrey Bolster's Black Jacks: African American seamen in the age of sail, Ray Costello's work now fills a gap in British maritime historiography. Black Salt has much to recommend it: it is well researched and written by someone with an obvious passion for the subject. The focus on retrieving contemporary narratives, whether written or dictated, is highly commendable and creates a sort of prosopographical account of black British sailors ... Ray Costello's work now fills a gap in British maritime historiography. Beginning in the seventeenth century through the mid-twentieth century, the growth and size of Britain's Black population was directly related to it being a seafaring nation. Britain's role in global trade, especially its commercial relationship with Africa and the Americas, paved the way for its dependence upon an abundance of African seamen. Subsequently, these seafarers were central to the development and maintenance of Britain's Black population as well as providing essential labour for sea-going needs. Ray Costello's Black Salt; Seafarers ofAfrican Descent on British Ships offers an engaging examination of the presence and roles of Black seamen in the Royal Navy and the Merchant Marine. Through the use of appropriate secondary sources, official records, personal accounts, and oral interviews, Costello vividly displays the circumstances of Black seamen not only at sea but on land as well, in the seaports or sailortowns where they often disembarked and resided. Spanning several centuries, the study is rather ambitious in its scope; however, throughout the period it maintains its intent and focus to reveal the presence and role of Black seamen within the context of their labour and service. By clearly defining their roles and skills as seamen, Costello presents a convincing argument that these seamen provided critical service to both the British navy and Britain's merchant marine during times of commercial growth or depression, peace or war. Black seamen performed practically every job aboard ship from cook to boatswain. Whether they were on a slave vessel or Admiral Nelson's flagship their skill and service was respected by officers and fellow crewmen. One of the reasons why this study is a must read for those who are interested in maritime history is that, in the growing body ofliterature on Black seamen, Costello's book adds a new dimension to the narrative. His use of the sources allows him to personalize the experience of African seamen. Through letters,journal entries, and oral interviews he relates the general conditions to individuals. For example, the story of Adam Jema clearly reveals the fate of many Black seamen during the era of the Slave Trade when their labour and freedom could be usurped at any time. This may cause one to question the notion that the sea or the ship had a democratizing effect which limited the cruelty and oppression ofrace or even class. Conditions may have caused seamen, both black and white, to form common bonds or generate a sense of brotherhood. However, there is much evidence that this did not significantly eliminate or deter the negative treatment of Black seamen. Moreover, Costello does not shy away from issues of race and colour, he hits them head on. He understands that race and colour played a significant role in defining the position and condition ofthese seamen aboard ship and on land. It is impossible to ignore the role of race and colour in the naval career of Jamaican-born John Perkins. Although a skilled seaman, Perkins' career was dubiously aided by his colour, being used as a spy in Havana and as a negotiator in Haiti. Issues associated with race were also prevalent in the careers of other notable seamen such as the well-known Olaudah Equiano, Jacob Christian, William Hall, and even Neville Bryce. Costello maintains that their race or colour affected their mobility, status, and life's chances. To be sure, what clearly separates Costello's work from others is his inclusion of the seaport towns that were associated with British shipping and Black seamen, especially Liverpool. Because Costello is a native resident of Liverpool, one may expect him to focus on this area. However, the fact is that Liverpool, more than any other port, was essential to Britain's shipping industry, especially in regards to Black seamen. Costello does a masterful job ofweaving Liverpool into the narrative from the period of the Slave Trade through the post-World War II era. Costello notes how Liverpool was positioned to provide a home or refuge for these seamen and at the same time the seamen were at the centre of the many social and political issues that stirred Liverpool and other port cities during the first half of the twentieth century, beginning with the riots of 1919 and ending with the disturbances of 1948. The riots of 1919 are viewed as a critical moment in the evolution of race relations in twentieth-century Britain. Not only did the riots cause officialdom to become more alarmed with the concentration of Blacks in the seaports, they spurred the government and the shipping industry to consider policies that would limit the presence, mobility, and labouring opportunities for Black seamen. The adoption of the Alien Orders was a direct attack on the livelihood of Black seamen. At this point Costello could have done more to relay the significance of the riots and the Alien Orders. There are numerous Home Office and Colonial Office files that reveal the mindset of officialdom. In addition, an examination of Laura Tabili's study on workers and racial difference or Jacqueline Jenkins' work on riots and racism in Britain would have added insights to his perspective. Black Salt is a valuable contribution to British maritime history and social history. By documenting the presence of Black seamen within the context of major transformations in British society, the study allows the reader to see how Britain processed the evolution of a Black population that was largely seamen. Costello also casually contends that the study may be viewed within the perimeters of Paul Gilroy's Black Atlantic paradigm. This contention raises certain questions associated with the various interpretations of Gilroy's Black Atlantic, especially concerning issues of identity. Black Salt is, however, an important resource for scholars who are first and foremost interested in maritime history; it is also useful for scholars who study the many dimensions of the African Diaspora. Black Salt is a valuable contribution to British maritime history and social history. By documenting the presence of Black seamen within the context of major transformations in British society, the study allows the reader to see how Britain processed the evolution of a Black population that was largely seamen. Black Salt is, however, an important resource for scholars who are first and foremost interested in maritime history; it is also useful for scholars who study the many dimensions of the African Diaspora. The professed purpose of this volume is to isolate the history of seafarers of African descent from the broader history of people of color in Britain, and to popularize it (p. xiv). In this the author seems to respond to Ian Duffield's call for sustained empirical enquiry into black seafarers (Duffield 2000: 122). He seeks to recover black seafarers' voices and contribution (p. xii), offering a compensatory history that restores black people to British history, and arguing for their centrality to the national story. Black Salt purports to be based on black narratives (p. xii) though it strays from these occasionally. A preliminary history focused entirely on seafarers as distinct from other inhabitants of the Black Atlantic, the book could be a valuable addition to the literature, despite minimal original research. Its frequent reliance on outdated and superseded sources, however, means it must be approached with caution. The book's subjects range from sea shanties to strikes, identifying interesting characters along the way. It traces black seamen's presence in British ships and Britain itself from their recruitment or enslavement on the West African Coast. It ranges from the Sierra Leone settlement to black settlements in British ports including Liverpool, Portsmouth, and Bristol. It usefully covers and distinguishes black service in both the Royal Navy and mercantile marine. It locates black seamen throughout the North Atlantic, including North America and beyond: Nova Scotian William Hall was decorated for his service during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The book relates the stories of black sea service in multiple wars, including the Seven Years' War, the Napoleonic wars, and the world wars of the twentieth century. The author has apparently produced several books based on oral histories with black Liverpudlians, and the parts of the book relying on these prove the most intriguing. Neither author nor press, however, apparently felt the need to work this fascinating material into a coherent narrative, argument, or interpretation. Fragmentary arguments appear, such as the reference to black men's well documented role in the Battle of Trafalgar: seafarers of African descent were notable, if anything, for their ordinariness ... ubiquitous and expected ... becoming accepted, in a rough, limited sort of way (p. 68). Surely it is precisely such limits that the scholar must delineate. Bringing evidence systematically to bear on this or other questions might have made for a more dynamic and fruitful enquiry. A book of such ambitious scope necessarily relies heavily on the work of others. Drawing liberally and somewhat indiscriminately on popular as well as scholarly literature, Black Salt contains almost no original research, and when it does appear it is isolated and sporadic rather than systematic or substantial. For instance, the author cites one ship's muster and one burial registry (p. 74) rather than undertaking systematic analysis of a larger number of either that might have yielded significant new knowledge or even a new interpretation. As a synthesis of extant literature which could serve usefully as an introduction to the question, the book falls short, often relying on decades-old scholarship while ignoring more substantial and up-to-date treatments. Questions ill served in this way include the Sierra Leone settlement, Britain's nineteenth-century black population, the 1919 riots, the Coloured Alien Seaman Order of 1925, the role of the National Union of Seaman, and relations between Elder Dempster shipping lines and its crews. Citing the major works omitted would exhaust the word limit for this review, but an example is the book's reliance on a half-dozen pages of journalist Peter Fryer's 1984 survey Staying Power (1984: 298-301, 315) to discuss the riots of 1919, when Jacqueline Jenkinson's definitive monograph on these riots appeared with the same press in 2009. Failure to engage this literature becomes consequential when the author erroneously identifies poorer sections of British society as the principal perpetrators of racism, and interracial marriages as the catalyst for the 1919 riots (pp. 152, 153). No justification appears for the book's focus on seafarers of African descent (p. xviii) while excluding other colonized people who populated British ships and port communities. Indeed, the author appears unaware that most of the 8000-some men registered under the Coloured Alien Seamen Order after 1925 were of Asian or Arab rather than African or African diasporic origin (p. 165). The book is successful as a work of compensatory history, but not as an original contribution to scholarly knowledge, nor as a particularly new interpretation. An admittedly popular work intended to appeal to black youngsters (p. xix) seems an odd choice for a university press and the author alike. Scholars of the many periods covered, conversely, will need to delve deeper into the relevant literature, both cited and omitted. References Duffield, Ian, 2000. I Asked How the Vessel Could Go : The Contradictory Experiences of African and African Diaspora Mariners and Port Workers in Britain, c. 1750-1850. In Ann Kershen (ed.), Language, Labour and Migration. Aldershot, U.K.: Ashgate, pp. 121-154. Fryer, Peter, 1984. Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain. London: Pluto. Jenkinson, Jacqueline, 2009. Black 1919: Racism and Resistance in Imperial Britain. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. The professed purpose of this volume is to isolate the history of seafarers of African descent from the broader history of people of color in Britain, and to popularize it (p. xiv). In this the author seems to respond to Ian Duffield's call for sustained empirical enquiry into black seafarers (Duffield 2000: 122). He seeks to recover black seafarers' voices and contribution (p. xii), offering a compensatory history that restores black people to British history, and arguing for their centrality to the national story. Black Salt purports to be based on black narratives (p. xii) though it strays from these occasionally. A preliminary history focused entirely on seafarers as distinct from other inhabitants of the Black Atlantic, the book could be a valuable addition to the literature, despite minimal original research. Its frequent reliance on outdated and superseded sources, however, means it must be approached with caution. The book's subjects range from sea shanties to strikes, identifying interesting characters along the way. It traces black seamen's presence in British ships and Britain itself from their recruitment or enslavement on the West African Coast. It ranges from the Sierra Leone settlement to black settlements in British ports including Liverpool, Portsmouth, and Bristol. It usefully covers and distinguishes black service in both the Royal Navy and mercantile marine. It locates black seamen throughout the North Atlantic, including North America and beyond: Nova Scotian William Hall was decorated for his service during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The book relates the stories of black sea service in multiple wars, including the Seven Years' War, the Napoleonic wars, and the world wars of the twentieth century. The author has apparently produced several books based on oral histories with black Liverpudlians, and the parts of the book relying on these prove the most intriguing. Neither author nor press, however, apparently felt the need to work this fascinating material into a coherent narrative, argument, or interpretation. Fragmentary arguments appear, such as the reference to black men's well documented role in the Battle of Trafalgar: seafarers of African descent were notable, if anything, for their ordinariness ... ubiquitous and expected ... becoming accepted, in a rough, limited sort of way (p. 68). Surely it is precisely such limits that the scholar must delineate. Bringing evidence systematically to bear on this or other questions might have made for a more dynamic and fruitful enquiry. A book of such ambitious scope necessarily relies heavily on the work of others. Drawing liberally and somewhat indiscriminately on popular as well as scholarly literature, Black Salt contains almost no original research, and when it does appear it is isolated and sporadic rather than systematic or substantial. For instance, the author cites one ship's muster and one burial registry (p. 74) rather than undertaking systematic analysis of a larger number of either that might have yielded significant new knowledge or even a new interpretation. As a synthesis of extant literature which could serve usefully as an introduction to the question, the book falls short, often relying on decades-old scholarship while ignoring more substantial and up-to-date treatments. Questions ill served in this way include the Sierra Leone settlement, Britain's nineteenth-century black population, the 1919 riots, the Coloured Alien Seaman Order of 1925, the role of the National Union of Seaman, and relations between Elder Dempster shipping lines and its crews. Citing the major works omitted would exhaust the word limit for this review, but an example is the book's reliance on a half-dozen pages of journalist Peter Fryer's 1984 survey Staying Power (1984: 298-301, 315) to discuss the riots of 1919, when Jacqueline Jenkinson's definitive monograph on these riots appeared with the same press in 2009. Failure to engage this literature becomes consequential when the author erroneously identifies poorer sections of British society as the principal perpetrators of racism, and interracial marriages as the catalyst for the 1919 riots (pp. 152, 153). No justification appears for the book's focus on seafarers of African descent (p. xviii) while excluding other colonized people who populated British ships and port communities. Indeed, the author appears unaware that most of the 8000-some men registered under the Coloured Alien Seamen Order after 1925 were of Asian or Arab rather than African or African diasporic origin (p. 165). The book is successful as a work of compensatory history, but not as an original contribution to scholarly knowledge, nor as a particularly new interpretation. An admittedly popular work intended to appeal to black youngsters (p. xix) seems an odd choice for a university press and the author alike. Scholars of the many periods covered, conversely, will need to delve deeper into the relevant literature, both cited and omitted. Any book which begins by pointing out that what is usually described as indigenous slavery in Africa is much more akin to European serfdom than to the chattel-slavery practised by Europeans, is bound to win my undivided attention. . But this is an important book not just for this emphasis on the need to correct the misinformation in so many books. Costello introduces us to seafaring as practised along the West African coast by Africans themselves in the 16th century, and their vessels, some of which were quite similar in construction to Europeans' boats. The Africans' seafaring skills were absolutely essential to Europeans as the coastal waters are difficult to navigate; and as the death rate among the crew was often as high as 25%, Africans had to replace them. Costello describes the many ways of obtaining crew, their varying status during the slave-trade era and uses personal stories as illustrations. Given the death rate, even the Royal Navy had to enlist Africans and also some of the 'Liberated Africans' freed from captures slave-ships in Sierra Leone after 1807. Investigating the Royal Navy, Costello warns us that as only birthplaces are on the records, it is not possible to determine how many Blacks served. For example, at Trafalgar 15% of the seamen were not born in Britain, but it is quite possible that there were men of African/Indian origins but British-born among the crews. Very few men were promoted in the RN, but it seems that Black and Whites of the same rank got the same pay. Costello investigates pay-scales, gratuities and pensions in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as admissions into the Greenwich Hospital and the Dreadnought hospital ships, and again illustrates his findings by individual seamen's histories. There was racial discrimination in the merchant marine. For example, in the 19th century it was easier for Black seamen to get employment in the 'tramp' ships, which sailed along Britain's coast, than on the trans-Atlantic vessels, which later did employ them as stewards. When steamships were introduced, Black seamen did the hardest work, shovelling coal and stoking furnaces in the below-decks sweltering engine -rooms. Though there was some sense of 'brotherhood at sea', to deal with discriminations Black seamen formed their own associations. These also had to serve as banks as the commercial banks often refused to give accounts to Black seamen. There are chapters on World Wars and then on the post-war era, which looks at the local naval forces when the colonies began to achieve independence. The RN retained its colour bar until the 1950s. I wish there was more on Liverpool and the other cities with large Black seafaring populations, on the struggles there by the seamen against the many forms of discriminations they had to face. And still face, says Costello, as they 'remain to the present day in the form of lingering illogical prejudices based upon skin colour... whiteness was equated with superiority and European supremacy'. (p.212) Costello concludes by saying that the Black seamen serving in the cross-Atlantic trades 'make the term Black Atlantic a reality'. This is a book for anyone interested in our navies, which were an absolutely integral part of the British Empire and the creation of Britain's wealth. Given the many personal stories, it could easily be used in schools. That is, if you can afford it! This is a book for anyone interested in our navies, which were an absolutely integral part of the British Empire and the creation of Britain's wealth. Given the many personal stories, it could easily be used in schools. The professed purpose of this volume is to isolate the history of seafarers of African descent from the broader history of people of color in Britain, and to popularize it (p. xiv). In this the author seems to respond to Ian Duffield's call for sustained empirical enquiry into black seafarers (Duffield 2000: 122). He seeks to recover black seafarers' voices and contribution (p. xii), offering a compensatory history that restores black people to British history, and arguing for their centrality to the national story. Black Salt purports to be based on black narratives (p. xii) though it strays from these occasionally. A preliminary history focused entirely on seafarers as distinct from other inhabitants of the Black Atlantic, the book could be a valuable addition to the literature, despite minimal original research. Its frequent reliance on outdated and superseded sources, however, means it must be approached with caution. The book's subjects range from sea shanties to strikes, identifying interesting characters along the way. It traces black seamen's presence in British ships and Britain itself from their recruitment or enslavement on the West African Coast. It ranges from the Sierra Leone settlement to black settlements in British ports including Liverpool, Portsmouth, and Bristol. It usefully covers and distinguishes black service in both the Royal Navy and mercantile marine. It locates black seamen throughout the North Atlantic, including North America and beyond: Nova Scotian William Hall was decorated for his service during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The book relates the stories of black sea service in multiple wars, including the Seven Years' War, the Napoleonic wars, and the world wars of the twentieth century. The author has apparently produced several books based on oral histories with black Liverpudlians, and the parts of the book relying on these prove the most intriguing. Neither author nor press, however, apparently felt the need to work this fascinating material into a coherent narrative, argument, or interpretation. Fragmentary arguments appear, such as the reference to black men's well documented role in the Battle of Trafalgar: seafarers of African descent were notable, if anything, for their ordinariness ... ubiquitous and expected ... becoming accepted, in a rough, limited sort of way (p. 68). Surely it is precisely such limits that the scholar must delineate. Bringing evidence systematically to bear on this or other questions might have made for a more dynamic and fruitful enquiry. A book of such ambitious scope necessarily relies heavily on the work of others. Drawing liberally and somewhat indiscriminately on popular as well as scholarly literature, Black Salt contains almost no original research, and when it does appear it is isolated and sporadic rather than systematic or substantial. For instance, the author cites one ship's muster and one burial registry (p. 74) rather than undertaking systematic analysis of a larger number of either that might have yielded significant new knowledge or even a new interpretation. As a synthesis of extant literature which could serve usefully as an introduction to the question, the book falls short, often relying on decades-old scholarship while ignoring more substantial and up-to-date treatments. Questions ill served in this way include the Sierra Leone settlement, Britain's nineteenthcentury black population, the 1919 riots, the Coloured Alien Seaman Order of 1925, the role of the National Union of Seaman, and relations between Elder Dempster shipping lines and its crews. Citing the major works omitted would exhaust the word limit for this review, but an example is the book's reliance on a half-dozen pages of journalist Peter Fryer's 1984 survey Staying Power (1984: 298-301, 315) to discuss the riots of 1919, when Jacqueline Jenkinson's definitive monograph on these riots appeared with the same press in 2009. Failure to engage this literature becomes consequential when the author erroneously identifies poorer sections of British society as the principal perpetrators of racism, and interracial marriages as the catalyst for the 1919 riots (pp. 152, 153). No justification appears for the book's focus on seafarers of African descent (p. xviii) while excluding other colonized people who populated British ships and port communities. Indeed, the author appears unaware that most of the 8000-some men registered under the Coloured Alien Seamen Order after 1925 were of Asian or Arab rather than African or African diasporic origin (p. 165). The book is successful as a work of compensatory history, but not as an original contribution to scholarly knowledge, nor as a particularly new interpretation. An admittedly popular work intended to appeal to black youngsters (p. xix) seems an odd choice for a university press and the author alike. Scholars of the many periods covered, conversely, will need to delve deeper into the relevant literature, both cited and omitted. New West Indian Guide 88 (2014) 85-229 The story of Black Afro-Caribbean soldiers in the Great War is an often neglected aspect of the conflict: many people know about Walter Tull the professional footballer who became an officer in 1917, but Tull was one of thousands of Black men who served in Khaki. A new book by Ray Costello helps bridge this gap in our knowledge: This is a well researched and written title on a forgotten part of the Great War and is highly recommended.
