Building the British Atlantic World

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350 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 6 drawings, 74 halftones, 2 tables, notes, bibl., index

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-2682-6
Published: April 2016
E-book EPUB ISBN: 978-1-4696-2683-3
Published: March 2016
E-book PDF ISBN: 979-8-8908-4928-1
Published: March 2016

H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Series

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Awards & distinctions

2016 Allen G. Noble Book Award, International Society for Landscape, Place, and Material Culture

Spanning the North Atlantic rim from Canada to Scotland, and from the Caribbean to the coast of West Africa, the British Atlantic world is deeply interconnected across its regions. In this groundbreaking study, thirteen leading scholars explore the idea of transatlanticism--or a shared "Atlantic world" experience--through the lens of architecture, built spaces, and landscapes in the British Atlantic from the seventeenth century through the mid-nineteenth century. Examining town planning, churches, forts, merchants' stores, state houses, and farm houses, this collection shows how the powerful visual language of architecture and design allowed the people of this era to maintain common cultural experiences across different landscapes while still forming their individuality.

By studying the interplay between physical construction and social themes that include identity, gender, taste, domesticity, politics, and race, the authors interpret material culture in a way that particularly emphasizes the people who built, occupied, and used the spaces and reflects the complex cultural exchanges between Britain and the New World.

About the Authors

Daniel Maudlin is Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Plymouth.
For more information about Daniel Maudlin, visit the Author Page.

Bernard L. Herman is George B. Tindall Distinguished Professor of Southern Studies and Folklore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
For more information about Bernard L. Herman, visit the Author Page.

Reviews

“Astute essays that shed light on unexamined corners of the British Atlantic material past.”--Journal of American History

“Prompt[s] readers to acknowledge the ways that colonists and colonized peoples helped to define commonalities in a shared British culture as well as local derivations from it.”--Panorama

"Adds a fresh body of work to an ever-growing discussion regarding material history and the British Atlantic World."--Material Culture

“Draws upon expertise from diverse fields, including art and architectural history, material culture, historical geography, folklore, and environmental history, to explore the multifaceted meanings that buildings and spaces held for New World colonists.”--Winterthur Portfolio

“With real intellectual agility, Daniel Maudlin and Bernard L. Herman have shaped a volume that wonderfully captures the range and depth of the British Atlantic world. These well-argued, fascinating essays are a pleasure to read and set a high benchmark for this emerging field.”--Robert Blair St. George, University of Pennsylvania

“Building the British Atlantic World, which features a wide range of both distinguished and emerging scholars, considers the built world from multiple geographical, religious, ethnic, and socioeconomic perspectives. This is an impressive book, fashioned from highly original archival research and full of fresh insight into the crosscurrents of global trade networks that transcended national boundaries and geophysical obstacles.”--Helen Berry, Newcastle University