Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Merchant Seamen, Pirates and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750
Published on 25. June 1993
Book
Paperback/Softback
340 pages
978-0-521-45720-0 (ISBN)
Description
Seamen, captains and pirates occupy a special place in our popular culture, yet until now the historical record of their lives has been remarkably neglected. This brilliant account of the maritime world of the eighteenth-century reconstructs in detail the social and cultural milieu of Anglo-American seafaring and piracy. Rediker follows sailors and their ships along the pulsing trade routes, into ports with their crowded waterfront society of brothels, alehouses, brawls and jails, and paints a compelling picture of their world at sea with its brutal labour, harsh discipline, hangings and floggings. The book's focus on maritime experience illuminates the broader historical sweep of the rise of capitalism and the growth of an international working class - epic themes which were intimately bound up with everyday lives of seafaring men.
Reviews / Votes
This book is...full of meat...graphically described" Socialist Review 'Triumphant ... What distinguishes Rediker's work is his unwavering and unsentimental focus on the seaman's labour and experience in his cramped wooden world.' E. P. Thompson, The GuardianMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
1 Maps; 16 Halftones, unspecified; 1 Line drawings, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 137 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
400 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-45720-0 (9780521457200)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Marcus Rediker
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Merchant Seamen, Pirates and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750
Book
02/1989
Cambridge University Press
€38.10
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Content
List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Introduction; 1. The seaman as man of the world: a tour of the North Atlantic, c. 1740; 2. The seaman as collective worker: the labour process at sea; 3. The seaman as wage labourer: the search for ready money; 4. The seaman as plain dealer: language and culture at sea; 5. The seaman as the 'Spirit of Rebellion': authority, violence and labour discipline; 6. The Seaman as pirate: plunder and social banditry at sea: Conclusion: the seaman as worker of the world; Appendix A: Age distribution among deep-sea sailors, 1700-1750; Appendix B: English trade, 1650-1750; Appendix C: Wages in the merchant shipping industry, 1700-1750; Appendix D: Literacy in the merchant shipping industry, 1700-1750; Appendix E: Mutiny at sea, 1700-1750; Appendix F: The courts of admiralty and their records; Index.