In a Sea of Empires. Networks and Crossings in the Revolutionary Caribbean/В море империй. Сети и переходы в революционном Карибском бассейне

Издание на английском языке
At the turn of the nineteenth century, the Atlantic world was rife with revolutionary fervor and political turmoil. With such upheaval came unparalleled opportunities. Naval officers and privateers, smugglers and seafaring traders, escaped slaves and free people of color all found themselves passing through the busy harbors of the Caribbean in pursuit of profit, freedom, glory, or any number of other ambitions. At the heart of this traffic were the Leeward Islands, an archipelago of small islands in the northeastern Caribbean. These islands represented numerous different European polities, and they exhibited a peculiar type of transimperial interconnectedness, characterized by intricate networks of actors and institutions that crossed formal political and legal boundaries. The end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 refashioned the geopolitical landscape of the Western Atlantic, and many of the Leeward Islands saw new opportunities for trade and prosperity as a consequence. Their role as ports located at the maritime center of transatlantic commerce, transportation, and communication became increasingly prominent, and many of them were to occupy unique positions of regional and oceanic significance during this period.

Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction
2 Free Ports and Black Markets
3 Imperial Warfare, Colonial Violence
4 Prize Courts and Privateers
5 Slave Laws and Free Communities
6 Abolition and the Illegal Slave Trade
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index