Overview

Between 1850 and 1900, Ratcliffe Highway was the pulse of maritime London. Sailors from every corner of the globe found solace, and sometimes trouble, in this bustling district. However, for social investigators, it was a place of fascination and fear as it harboured chaotic and dangerous 'exotic' communities. Sailortowns were transient, cosmopolitan and working class in character and provide us with an insight into class, race and gendered relations. They were contact zones of heightened interaction where multi-ethnic subaltern cultures met, sometimes negotiated and at other times clashed with one another. The book argues that despite these challenges sailortown was a distinctive and functional working-class community that was self-regulating and self-moderating. The book uncovers a robust sailortown community in which an urban-maritime culture shaped a sense of themselves and the traditions and conventions that governed subaltern behaviour in the district.

Full Product Details

9781526177926

Table of Contents

Reviews

'Deeply researched and engaging... Crucially, Beaven offers enlightening new approaches to the study of sailortowns, generally... this is an absorbing and accessible book.' The Mariner's Mirror -- .

Author Information

Brad Beaven is a Professor of Social and Cultural History at the University of Portsmouth.

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