Maritime Kent Through The Ages

A wide-ranging history of the geography and communities of Kent from the earliest times to the present day.Kent, with its long coastline and its important geopolitical position close to London and continental Europe, and on major trading routes between Britain and the wider world, has had a very significant maritime history. This book covers a wide range of topics relating to that history from the earliest times to the present day. It sets Kent's varied coastline and waters in their geological and geographical context, showing how erosion and sediment deposition have contributed to the changing nature of maritime activities and populations. It examines Kent's strategic role in the defence of the country with the development and redevelopment of coastal defences, including four naval dockyards. It goes on to consider the supporting industries which grew up around the coastline, those which supplied raw materials and agricultural products from the county's hinterland, and its wider national and international trading links. It also discusses the diverse coastal communities of Kent and how they have changed in response to the demands of defence, trade, and changing population and migration patterns. In addition, the book includes detailed case studies which explore particular subject areas as exemplars of the major themes covered by the book.l trading links. It also discusses the diverse coastal communities of Kent and how they have changed in response to the demands of defence, trade, and changing population and migration patterns. In addition, the book includes detailed case studies which explore particular subject areas as exemplars of the major themes covered by the book.l trading links. It also discusses the diverse coastal communities of Kent and how they have changed in response to the demands of defence, trade, and changing population and migration patterns. In addition, the book includes detailed case studies which explore particular subject areas as exemplars of the major themes covered by the book.l trading links. It also discusses the diverse coastal communities of Kent and how they have changed in response to the demands of defence, trade, and changing population and migration patterns. In addition, the book includes detailed case studies which explore particular subject areas as exemplars of the major themes covered by the book.

This book has been nominated for The Mountbatten Award for Best Book in the Maritime Media Awards 2021. The Routledge Companion to Marine and Maritime Worlds, 1400‒1800 explores early modern maritime history, culture, and the current state of the research and approaches taken by experts in the field. Ranging from cartography to poetry and decorative design to naval warfare, the book shows how once-traditional and often Euro-chauvinistic depictions of oceanic ‘mastery’ during the early modern period have been replaced by newer global ideas. This comprehensive volume challenges underlying assumptions by balancing its assessment of the consequences and accomplishments of European navigators in the era of Columbus, da Gama, and Magellan, with an awareness of the sophistication and maritime expertise in Asia, the Arab world, and the Americas. By imparting riveting new stories and global perceptions of maritime history and culture, the contributors provide readers with fresh insights concerning early modern entanglements between humans and the vast, unpredictable ocean. With maritime studies growing and the ocean’s health in decline, this volume is essential reading for academics and students interested in the historicization of the ocean and the ways early modern cultures both conceptualized and utilized seas.

Despite earlier naval expeditions undertaken for reasons of diplomacy or trade, it wasn't until the early 1400s that European maritime explorers established sea routes through most of the globe's inhabited regions, uniting a divided earth into a single system of navigation. From the early Portuguese and Spanish quests for gold and glory, to later scientific explorations of land and culture, this new understanding of the world's geography created global trade, built empires, defined taste and alliances of power, and began the journey toward the cultural, political, and economic globalization in which we live today. Ronald Love's engaging narrative chapters guide the reader from Marco Polo's exploration of the Mongol empire to Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe, the search for a Northern Passage, Henry Hudson's voyage to Greenland, the discovery of Tahiti, the perils of scurvy, mutiny, and warring empires, and the eventual extension of Western influence into almost every corner of the globe. Biographies and primary documents round out the work.

An authoritative account of the maritime history of the British Isles over the last 1500 years. Ian Friel defines 'maritime history' broadly to encompass naval developments, sea trade, exploration and colonization, fishing, social history, the technology of shipbuilding and a host of other themes related to the ways in which maritime activity has affected the history of Britain. Conversely, he examines the ways in which British seafaring enterprise has affected the world, for good and ill. Beginning with the maritime world of late Roman Britain, Ian Friel reviews seafaring in the Celtic world, Viking raids and settlement, and the Norman invasion and conquest. The second chapter studies England as part of the 'cross-Channel kingdom', the wars with France 1204-1453 and the rise and fall of English naval forces. Chapter three deals with the early British voyages of exploration, the Tudor and Stuart navies, and the first permanent naval dockyards. Following on comes the rise of empire and a growing public consciousness of the sea in national affairs: the defeat of piracy, the establishment of English colonies abroad and the growth of economic structures that supported empire, such as the slave trade. Chapter five describes the Pax Britannica, with England becoming the greatest naval and mercantile power in the world, until she fell into war in 1914. This period saw the development of the steamship and motor vessel and the establishment of major commercial docks; also the growth of trade unionism, class-consciousness and labor disputes in the maritime industries. The final chapter describes the rapidly changing technology of naval warfare in the two World Wars, and the decline of Britain as a naval power and as a shipbuilding nation. Offshore oil and gas industries signaled major changes in maritime trade and industry; traditional ports declined, and the European Union had profound effects on British maritime industries.

A wide-ranging new survey of the role of the sea in Britain's global presence in the 19th century. Mostly at peace, but sometimes at war, Britain grew as a maritime empire in the Victorian era. This collection looks at British sea-power as a strategic, moral and cultural force.

Maritime Britain