2026/04/02 by Nat Cutter · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Historical Art and Culture Studies #Historical Influence and Diplomacy #Scottish History and National Identity
paper · doi:10.1093/9780198987055.001.0001
openalex publication_date 2026/04/02 · openalex created_date 2026/04/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract This book examines the history of British relations with the Ottoman Maghreb in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries through the stories of a network of English-speaking expatriates who lived in the region. I explore how they formed communities abroad, engaged with the societies around them, and undertook their businesses, from trading to captivity redemption to international politics. In the first study to move substantially beyond official diplomatic records and printed texts, this book delves into thousands of personal letters and financial records, where we find friendship, conflict, adoration, derision, manipulation, and scandal across cultures and countries. In so doing, it offers new ways of thinking about British-Maghrebi relations in a transitional age for global trade and military-naval power, moving beyond plaintive consular complaints, gunboat diplomacy, and brutal captivity to accommodate positive cooperation and mutual benefit.