British Shipping in the Mediterranean during the Napoleonic Wars

The Untold Story of a Successful Adaptation

Series: 

Author:
Katerina Galani
In British shipping in the Mediterranean Katerina Galani investigates the impact of the French and Napoleonic wars on British maritime economic activity. Due to the close cooperation of the public and private sector at sea, the British adopted flexible business strategies to mitigate economic warfare and sustain shipping and trade in the Mediterranean.
The book offers a comprehensive approach by combining the study of international relations, ports, ships, business organisation, deep-sea voyages and intra-Mediterranean navigation. Katerina Galani conceptualises the Mediterranean as an economic entity and she insightfully examines, for the first time, free traders along with the chartered Levant Company. Her analysis draws upon a unique collection of British and Mediterranean sources to construct a multifaceted view of British maritime activity.
Copyright Year:
2017
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-34328-3
Publication:
11 Sep 2017
Hardback
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-34327-6
Publication:
28 Sep 2017
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Katerina Galani, Ph.D. (2011), Oxford University, is Post-Doctoral Fellow in Economic History at the Ionian University. She was awarded the Frank Broeze Prize for Outstanding doctoral thesis in Maritime History. She has participated in research projects on maritime, financial and economic history and she has several publications in peer-reviewed journals and collective volumes.

'[...] the sources for this book, and how they are employed, are a major strength, which alone renders the volume an essential addition to the study of merchant shipping within the Mediterranean Sea. Galani uses primary evidence from a variety of British, Greek and Italian archives, supplemented by and integrated with the relevant secondary literature. This is an important step forward in a revision of our understanding of British trade and the development of regional merchant shipping in the Mediterranean, in the era of transition to modern shipping business through the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It is written for an academic audience and will be of interest not only to maritime historians but also to those studying economic, transportation, and social history.'
Thomas Malcomson, in: The Mariner's Mirror, 104:2 (2018), 235-237.

'Among the recent works on the British in the Mediterranean, Katerina Galani’s is possibly one of the most enjoyable. [...] a work that is a pleasure to read, with a very clear writing style and swift prose. [...] the book is appealing for a wide range of interests, from imperial to global history, from economic to social history, and to economic geography. It provides food for thought for future research into the maritime and economic history of the Mediterranean [...]. I agree with the author that this work will become a springboard for future research on the Mediterranean, as she enriches recent historiography that revaluates the role of the region in the modern history of trade. She highlights how the Mediterranean was always of crucial importance for understanding British imperial power as we know it. I cannot but agree that the Mediterranean should be given more attention in the historiography, particularly as there is a need constantly to remind ourselves of the primary role played by old and established markets in strengthening the British economy and the nation’s power. This book conveys a powerful message and I would recommend it to advocates of a future global Britain.'
Giada Pizzonie, University of Warwick, in: Economic History Review, 71, 4 (2018), 1418-1419.
Acknowledgments
List of Illustrations
List of Abbreviations
Note on Names of Places

1 Introduction
 The “Extended Mediterranean” in the 19th Century
 Structure of the book

2 The End of the ‘Long 18th Century’ in the Mediterranean: An Overview
 Introduction
 The Mediterranean and the British Empire
 The Actors: The British
 Navigating the Mediterranean: The Market Scope
 The Co-actors: Foreign and Local Carriers
 Conclusion

3 Charting British Sea Routes in the Mediterranean
 Introduction
 Lloyd’s List as a Historical Source
 Some Methodological Remarks
 The Evidence on British Shipping
 An Increase in Shipping: Causality and Interpretations

4 British Shipping on the Micro-Scale: From Long-Distance to Short-Distance Hauls
 Introduction
 British Shipping at the Port of Livorno
 Sea Routes: Livorno’s Involvement in Intra-Mediterranean Hauls
 Between Grand Traffic and Short-Distance Shipping: The Passengers
 Conclusion

5 An Age of Transition for British Shipping: Institutional and Organisational Shifts
 Introduction
 Shipping in the Early Modern Era
 Institutional Changes: A Step towards the Systematisation of the Industry
 Changes in Everyday Business: Specialisation
 Conclusion

6 How Profitable a Business was it After All?
 Introduction
 Earnings
 The Cost of Shipping
 The Ship
 The Organisation of Shipping
 The Crew
 Conclusion

7 Levant Company: The Institutional Branch of British Shipping in the Levant
 Introduction
 The Levant Company: Its Operation
 The State of the Company’s Shipping and Trade in the Late 18th Century
 Free Traders and the Monopolistic Company
 Conclusion

8 Conclusion

Appendices
Bibliography
Index
All interested in economic, business, maritime and naval history and those concerned with 18th-century British and Mediterranean shipping and trade, the Napoleonic Wars and economic warfare.
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Publisher:
Brill
Language:
English
Pages:
xvi, 278 pp.; incl. 35 (color) fig., 4 (color) ill., 4 (color) maps, and 10 tables
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004343283

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