The Royal Navy and the British Atlantic World, c. 1750–1820

This book foregrounds the role of the Royal Navy in creating the British Atlantic in the eighteenth century. It outlines the closely entwined connections between the nurturing of naval supremacy, the politics of commercial protection, and the development of national and imperial identities – crucial factors in the consolidation and transformation of the British Atlantic empire. The collection brings together scholars working on aspects of the Royal Navy and the British Atlantic in order to gain a better understanding of the ways that the Navy protected, facilitated, and shaped the British-Atlantic empire in the era of war, revolution, counter-revolution, and upheaval between the beginning of the Seven Years War and the end of the conflict with Napoleonic France. Contributions question the limits – conceptually and geographically – of that Atlantic world, suggesting that, by considering the Royal Navy and the British Atlantic together, we can gain greater insights into Britain’s maritime history.

1. Introduction: The Royal Navy and the British Atlantic by Christer Petley and John McAleer. - 2. The Royal Navy and Caribbean Colonial Society during the Eighteenth Century by Siân Williams. - 3. Ireland and the Royal Navy in the Eighteenth Century by Patrick Walsh. - 4. Another Look at the Navigation Acts and the Coming of the American Revolution by Stephen Conway. - 5. The Royal Navy, the British Atlantic Empire and the Abolition of the Slave Trade by Christer Petley. - 6. At War with the ‘detestable traffic’: The Royal Navy’s Anti-Slavery Cause in the Atlantic Ocean by Mary Wills. - 7. Atlantic Empire, European War, and the Naval Expeditions to South America, 1806–7 by James Davey. - 8. Atlantic Periphery, Asian Gateway: The Royal Navy at the Cape of Good Hope, 1785–1815 by John McAleer. - 9. Love and Death: The Royal Navy in the Atlantic World by Kathleen Wilson

John McAleer is a historian of the British Empire. His work focuses on the British encounter and engagement with the wider world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, situating the history of empire in its global and maritime contexts.

Christer Petley is a historian with interests in Atlantic history, British imperial history, and Caribbean studies. His work focuses on the histories and legacies of slavery in the Americas, mainly on slave societies in the British Caribbean.