Innovation in Shipping and Trade

The theme of this collection is innovation in shipping and trade in widely ranging periods and settings. There are discussions of triremes, the introduction of steam-screw propulsion into the British mercantile marine and the Royal Navy in the 1840s, and the fortunes of P&O between 1914 and 1932. There are also studies of a Devon merchant's part in English commercial expansion in the early 17th century, and British trading along the coast of Southern Africa in the 19th century. The final essay takes a look at picture postcards as a source for maritime historical research.