A wide-ranging new survey of the role of the sea in Britain's global presence in the 19th century. Mostly at peace, but sometimes at war, Britain grew as a maritime empire in the Victorian era. This collection looks at British sea-power as a strategic, moral and cultural force.

Introduction; Miles Taylor 1. 'Now is come a darker day': Britain, Venice and the meaning of sea power; Andrew Lambert 2. After emancipation: slavery, freedom and the Victorian empire; John Oldfield 3. Cultural, intellectual and religious networks: Britain's maritime exchanges in the 19th and 20th centuries; John Mackenzie 4. 'We never make mistakes': the empire of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company; Crosbie Smith 5. Crossing the seas: problems and possibilities for Queen Victoria's; Indian subjects Judith Brown 6. Three weeks' post apart: British children travel the empire ; Liz Buettner 7. Insularity and empire; Jan Rüger 8. The Victorian empire in its global context; Jeremy Black

Jeremy Black, University of Exeter, UK
Judith Brown, University of Oxford, UK
Elizabeth Buettner, University of York, UK
Andrew Lambert, King's College, London, UK
John Mackenzie, Lancaster University, UK
John Oldfield, University of Hull, UK
Jan Rüger, Birkbeck College, London, UK
Crosbie Smith, University of Kent, UK