In a Sea of Empires

At the turn of the nineteenth century the Caribbean was rife with revolutionary fervor and political turmoil. Yet with such upheaval came unparalleled opportunities. In this innovative and richly detailed study Jeppe Mulich explores the interconnected nature of imperial politics and colonial law in the maritime borderlands of the Leeward Islands where British Danish Dutch French Spanish and Swedish colonies both competed and cooperated with one another. By exploring the transnational networks involved in trade slavery smuggling privateering and marronage he offers a new account of the age of revolutions in the Caribbean emphasizing the border-crossing nature of life in the region. By approaching major shifts in politics economy and law from the bottom-up a new story of early nineteenth-century globalization emerges one that emphasizes regional integration and a multiplicity of intersecting networks.