Overview

"A deeply researched, analytically rich, and vivid account of England's early maritime empire Drawing on a wealth of understudied sources, historian Eleanor Hubbard explores the labor conflicts behind the rise of the English maritime empire. Freewheeling Elizabethan privateering attracted thousands of young men to the sea, where they acquired valuable skills and a reputation for ruthlessness. Peace in 1603 forced these predatory seamen to adapt to a radically changed world, one in which they were expected to risk their lives for merchants' gain, not plunder. Merchant trading companies expected sailors to relinquish their unruly ways and to help convince overseas rulers and trading partners that the English were a courteous and trustworthy ""nation."" Some sailors rebelled, becoming pirates and renegades; others demanded and often received concessions and shares in new trading opportunities. Treated gently by a state that was anxious to promote seafaring in order to man the navy, these determined sailors helped to keep the sea a viable and attractive trade for Englishmen."

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9780300246124

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Reviews

"shortlisted for the John Ben Snow Prize, sponsored by North American Conference on British Studies (NACBS) “An important contribution to debates on national, religious and cultural identity, empire, and economic expansion, as well as our understanding of England’s seafaring community at a crucial stage in its development.”—Bernard Capp, The University of Warwick ""Eleanor Hubbard’s indefatigable sleuthing in challenging sources has uncovered a remarkable global history of the fractious and savvy mariners who sustained and defined the English empire in its earliest and formative years. Her book is an extraordinary accomplishment.""—Alison Games, Georgetown University ""A readable and deeply researched history that shows how mariners' struggles over identity shaped the idea of English nationhood during the first era of England's imperial expansion.""—Nathan Perl-Rosenthal, University of Southern California, Dornsife “A highly original and compelling analysis of how the first phase of British maritime expansion was experienced by sailors themselves. Hubbard’s reconstruction of shipboard politics is empirically rigorous, conceptually sophisticated, and engagingly written.”—Steve Hindle, The Huntington Library “This is an illuminating and absorbing study of the seamen whose labour made possible England’s global maritime expansion, vividly recapturing an emergent world and the extraordinary lives of its creators.”—Keith Wrightson, Yale University"

"“A fresh and indispensable analysis of the community of Elizabethan and early Stuart mariners.”—David Cressy, Journal of British Studies shortlisted for the John Ben Snow Prize, sponsored by North American Conference on British Studies (NACBS) “An important contribution to debates on national, religious and cultural identity, empire, and economic expansion, as well as our understanding of England’s seafaring community at a crucial stage in its development.”—Bernard Capp, The University of Warwick ""Eleanor Hubbard’s indefatigable sleuthing in challenging sources has uncovered a remarkable global history of the fractious and savvy mariners who sustained and defined the English empire in its earliest and formative years. Her book is an extraordinary accomplishment.""—Alison Games, Georgetown University ""A readable and deeply researched history that shows how mariners' struggles over identity shaped the idea of English nationhood during the first era of England's imperial expansion.""—Nathan Perl-Rosenthal, University of Southern California, Dornsife “A highly original and compelling analysis of how the first phase of British maritime expansion was experienced by sailors themselves. Hubbard’s reconstruction of shipboard politics is empirically rigorous, conceptually sophisticated, and engagingly written.”—Steve Hindle, The Huntington Library “This is an illuminating and absorbing study of the seamen whose labour made possible England’s global maritime expansion, vividly recapturing an emergent world and the extraordinary lives of its creators.”—Keith Wrightson, Yale University"

Author Information

Eleanor Hubbard is Elizabeth and J. Richardson Dilworth Fellow in Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Studies. She is the author of City Women: Money, Sex, and the Social Order in Early Modern London. She lives in Princeton, NJ.

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