Port towns and urban cultures - Brad Beaven

Despite the port's prominence in maritime history,its cultural significance has long been neglected in favour of its role withineconomic and imperial networks. Defined by their intersection of maritime andurban space, port towns were sites of complex cultural exchanges. This book,the product of international scholarship, offers innovative and challengingperspectives on the cultural histories of ports, ranging fromeighteenth-century Africa to twentieth-century Australasia and Europe. Theessays in this important collection explore two key themes; the nature andcharacter of 'sailortown' culture and port-town life, and the representationsof port towns that were forged both within and beyond urban-maritimecommunities. The book's exploration of port town identities and cultures, andits use of a rich array of methodological approaches and cultural artefacts,will make it of great interest to both urban and maritime historians. It alsorepresents a major contribution to the emerging, interdisciplinary field ofcoastal studies.