Ships have histories that are interwoven with the human fabric of the maritime world. In the long nineteenth century these histories revolved around the re-invention of these once familiar objects in a period in which Britain became a major maritime power. This title examines this transformation.
The technological development of the ship between 1800 and 1914 was dramatic, encompassing the shift from wood and sail to iron, steel and steam. This volume offers a multi-disciplinary approach to the history of the ship in the long nineteenth century. It illustrates the ways in which the material elements of the ship, together with the scientific, artisan and seafaring ideas and practices that endowed the ship with its character, may be approached from different historical, geographical, cultural and literary perspectives.
'In Re-inventing the Ship, the two scholars have compiled a collection of essays that investigates the British ships of the long nineteenth century as objects of science, technology, and maritime culture. ... would make an appropriate addition to the bookshelf of anyone interested in maritime affairs.' EH.Net 'As a whole, the contributors to this volume offer a hugely enriching behind the scenes perspective on the re-invention of the ship in the long nineteenth century. The approaches, questions and findings generated by these authors afford historians of science, technology and the sea a much fuller understanding of the intersection of science and technology during this collaborative period of transition from wood and sail to steam and iron.' The Northern Mariner 'The diversity of these approaches makes a truly dense and thought provoking collection that often feels as if it is bursting with potential. The manner with which its authors re-visit debates, re-examine old scholarship and introduce new approaches often excites the reader with the possibility of future research. Consequently, Re-inventing the Ship will be of interest to anyone interested in the interconnected themes of the economic, political, cultural and technological transformations of Atlantic maritime traditions between the late eighteenth and early twentieth century.' Journal of Transport History
