Between 1850 and 1900, Ratcliffe Highway was the pulse of maritime London. Sailors from every corner of the globe found solace, and sometimes trouble, in this bustling district.
However, for social investigators, it was a place of fascination and fear as it harboured chaotic and dangerous 'exotic' communities. Sailortowns were transient, cosmopolitan and working class in character and provide us with an insight into class, race and gendered relations.
They were contact zones of heightened interaction where multi-ethnic subaltern cultures met, sometimes negotiated and at other times clashed with one another. The book argues that despite these challenges sailortown was a distinctive and functional working-class community that was self-regulating and self-moderating. The book uncovers a robust sailortown community in which an urban-maritime culture shaped a sense of themselves and the traditions and conventions that governed subaltern behaviour in the district.
By:
Brad Beaven Imprint: Manchester University Press Country of Publication: United Kingdom Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
ISBN:9781526177926 ISBN 10: 1526177927 Series:Studies in Popular Culture Pages: 214 Publication Date:14 January 2025 Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
ELT Advanced
,
Primary
Format:Hardback Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Brad Beaven is a Professor of Social and Cultural History at the University of Portsmouth.