Description
Book SynopsisRather than a natural frontier between natural enemies, this book approaches the English Channel as a shared space, which mediated the multiple relations between France and England in the long eighteenth century. This is an important reassessment of the history of Britain's deep historical connections with Europe.
Trade Review'Morieux offers a useful corrective to the new British history or 'archipelagic studies', whose challenge to Anglocentric history has a tendency to overlook Europe. It's a cliché to say a book is timely, but in the midst of another debate on borders this book presents a bigger picture.' Willy Maley, Times Higher Education
'Morieux's work here indicates in exemplary fashion how much more difficult to define was the political and juridical status of a murky, evershifting, and often downright dangerous stretch of water. Morieux repeatedly plays off the overlaps and tensions between the economic and political realms, noting further in the conclusion how merchants might balance natal allegiance with naturalization elsewhere.' David Andress, The American Historical Review
'A rich and rewarding text, based on extensive research on both sides of la Manche, The Channel opens new perspectives on the sea as a connection, and the fluidity of maritime space.' Andrew Lambert, International Journal of Maritime History
'… a powerful antidote and alternative perspective to those who see Anglo-French relations only through the prism of conflict. It is a profoundly optimistic view and in that, as much as in the subject it deals with, it is a timely and welcome intervention.' John McAleer, The English Historical Review
Table of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. The Border Invented: 1. The impossibility of an island: before the Channel was a sea; 2. When the sea had no name; Part II. The Border Imposed: 3. Defending the military frontier; 4. Who owns the Channel? The overlap of legal rights; 5. The fight for natural resources; Part III. Transgressing the Border: 6. The fisherman: 'friend of all nations'?; 7. The game of identities: fraud and smuggling; 8. Crossing the Channel; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.
