My book, Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area, hopefully will be of interest to readers of the Port Towns & Urban Cultures blog. The title proclaims its basic thesis. Though many folks are unaware of it, including a surprising number of labor and maritime historians, the very term […]
After returning from Marseille, France I would like to share some of the highlights of the International Symposium of Boat and Ship Archaeology, abbreviated ISBSA. This was their 15th conference and the second that I attended, and I enjoyed spending a week with friends and colleagues who are just as excited about shipbuilding as I […]
By now – after many years of work in the ‘Port Towns & Urban Cultures’ project – it’s probably old hat to say that port towns are important intersections between land and water, liminal zones and crossing points for people, goods and ideas. These transient places are of great interest to a range of historians, […]
Italo Calvino’s (1923-1985) Invisible Cities is a work of fiction that continuously reimagines the city of Venice. It demonstrates that the same urban landscape may offer numerous different promises to its various spectators: of new lives and new possibilities, but also of new sensualities, transgressions, and experiments. This article will draw on a number of […]
Animal husbandry at HMS Excellent on Whale Island expanded considerably at the onset of the First World War. As it became clear that war to about to break out, the island management began to view the island with different eyes. Although it was surprising that sailors would be put to farming duties, men were tasked […]
The First World War was unprecedented in the level of destruction and death that was inflicted across the world. Millions were killed or rendered into refugees and buildings, infrastructure, farmland and housing were left in a ruinous state by the impact of the conflict. However, whilst the war brought dislocation and disarray to the lives […]
