Atlantic in World History, 1490-1830 - by Trevor Burnard (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The Atlantic in World History, 1490-1830 looks at the historical connections between four continents - Africa, Europe, North America and South America - through the lens of Atlantic history. It shows how the Atlantic has been more than just an ocean: it has been an important site of circulation and transmission, allowing exchanges and interchanges which have profoundly shaped the development of the world.

Divided into four thematic sections, Trevor Burnard's sweeping yet concise narrative covers the period from the voyages of Columbus to the New World in the 1490s through to the end of the Age of Revolutions around 1830. It deals with key topics including the Columbian exchange, Atlantic slavery and abolition, war as a global phenomenon, the Age of Revolution, religious conversion, nation-building, trade and commerce and intellectual movements such as the Enlightenment. Rather than focusing on the 'rise of the West', Burnard stresses the interactive nature of encounters between various parts of the world, setting local case studies within his broader interconnected narrative.

Written by a leading historian of Atlantic history, and including further reading lists, images and maps as well as a companion website featuring discussion questions, timelines and primary source extracts, this is an essential book for students of Atlantic and world history.

Review Quotes

A clear-eyed and utterly persuasive defence of the approach his generation of historians have taken to the study of the early-modern Atlantic littoral. Where Burnard's defence differs is its insistence that students of the early-modern Atlantic not lose sight of the local, that they attend as much to circumscribed communities as to trans-continental, trans-oceanic networks. A book for our times-a penetrating reminder that we globalists ignore the local at our peril.
Edward Gray, Professor of History, Florida State University, USA

A stimulating analysis of how the Atlantic Ocean became a zone of exchange and interchange between continents. Trevor Burnard proves himself both a persuasive evangelist and a reliable guide and the book is certain to encourage and enable readers to access the vast body of exciting literature that is masterfully synthesized by him.
Nicholas Canny, Professor of History, National University of Ireland Galway, Republic of Ireland

By deftly weaving together the histories of Africa, Europe, and the Americas, Burnard has made a compelling case for the continued relevance and importance of the Atlantic paradigm. This volume will consequently serve as an indispensable and engaging introduction to Atlantic history for many years to come.
Nicholas Radburn, Lecturer in the History of the Atlantic World, Lancaster University, UK

About the Author

Trevor Burnard is Wilberforce Professor of Slavery and Emancipation and Director of the Wilberforce Institute, University of Hull, UK. Among his major works are The Plantation Machine: Atlantic Capitalism in French Saint-Domingue and British Jamaica (2016), Planters, Merchants, and Slaves: Plantation Societies in British America, 1650-1820 (2015), Mastery, Tyranny and Desire: Thomas Thistlewood and His Slaves in the Anglo-Jamaican World (2004) and Creole Gentlemen: The Maryland Elite, 1691-1776 (2002). He is also the Editor in Chief of the Oxford Bibliographies in Atlantic History.