The Atlantic World: Europeans, Africans, Indians and their Shared History, 1400–1900

From 1400 to 1900 the Atlantic Ocean served as a major highway, allowing people and goods to move easily between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. These interactions and exchanges transformed European, African, and American societies and led to the creation of new peoples, cultures, economies, and ideas throughout the Atlantic arena. The Atlantic World provides a comprehensive and lucid history of one of the most important and impactful cross-cultural encounters in human history. Empires, economies, and trade in the Atlantic world thrived due to the European drive to expand as well as the creative ways in which the peoples living along the Atlantic's borders adapted to that drive. This comprehensive, cohesively written textbook offers a balanced view of the activity in the Atlantic world. The 40 maps, 60 illustrations, and multiple excerpts from primary documents bring the history to life. Each chapter offers a reading list for those interested in a more in-depth look at the period.

Table of Contents:
Part I. The Oceans Shall Unloose the Bonds of Things: 1. Antecedents: the Americas, Africa and Europe in the fifteenth century; 2. Commencement: the European opening of the Atlantic ocean; 3. Conquests: forging the Iberian empires in Africa and the Americas; 4. Realms: the overseas empires of Spain and Portugal; Part II. Europe Supported by Africa and America: 5. Incursions: French, English and Dutch invasions of the Iberian Atlantic; 6. Engagement: the entangled worlds of Indians and Europeans; 7. Uprooted: West Africa, the Americas, and the Atlantic slave trade; 8. Bondage: the Atlantic plantation complex and the cultures of slaves; 9. Partners: women and men in the making of the Atlantic world; Part III. A New Order of the Ages: 10. Rivals: Britain and France in the long eighteenth century; 11. Liberty: the Atlantic world in the age of revolution; 12. Equality: the Atlantic world in the age of revolution; 13. Freedom: the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade and new world slavery.

About the Author :
Thomas Benjamin is Professor of History and a member of the Center for Transnational and Comparative History at Central Michigan University. He is editor-in-chief of the three-volume Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism Since 1450 and co-editor of The Atlantic World in the Age of Empire.

Review :
"The Atlantic World: Europeans, Africans, Indians and Their Shared History, 1400- 1900, is a welcome addition to the growing scholarship on the history of the Atlantic World. Benjamin's narrative, supplemented by the voices of contemporary Atlantic World inhabitants, deftly illustrates the complex connections that have historically joined people and places around the Atlantic Basin. The text's chronological and geographic breadth make it an ideal resource for scholars and students alike." - Dr. Rebecca Hartkopf Schloss, Texas A & M University "Benjamin's is a sweeping, learned, and comprehensive history of the making and undoing of a transnational world that the peoples of Africa, Europe, and the Americas created together from roughly 1450 to 1850. Benjamin traces the rise and decline of an Iberian Atlantic followed by one dominated by the French and the British. Both systems to work, however, relied on forced labor systems and fluid but unequal sexual commerce between the races. The system came to an end with a protracted 'Age of Revolutions' that shattered empires, emancipated slaves, and brought notions of equality to the fore, but that also marginalized Africa from the global economy." -Jorge Canizares-Esguerra. University of Texas at Austin. "Both erudite and accessible, The Atlantic World is the perfect textbook for courses on the interaction between Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans in the early modern period. Professor Benjamin has achieved just the right tone, length, and detailed coverage, without losing sight of the larger picture. His years of reading widely on myriad topics has paid off handsomely, to the benefit of instructors and students alike." - Matthew Restall, The Pennsylvania State University