[books 2011] The Many-Headed Hydra
May. 1st, 2011 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
inulro23. The Many-Headed Hydra - Sailors, Slaves, Commoners and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic by Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker
I finished this before I went on holiday but didn't have time to write it up.
This book is about (among other things) how some of the more radical ideas cooked up in the British Civil War (which were largely sold out as Cromwell established his power base) were taken to the New World by a collection of sailors, slaves, pirates, labourers, and indentured servants, including women. These ideas became the basis for the American revolution as well as more slave revolts than I can count. However, by the time of the actual Revolution, the likes of George Washington and Tom Paine were deeply suspicious of the lower classes, so this story got written out of history.
The book starts with the increasing enclosures and loss of the commons in the Tudor era, which were still a major issue by the time of the Civil War, and how the rise of capitalism and wage labour depends on the appropriation of the commons. Along the way it touches upon piracy in the Atlantic world, the multi-racial makeup of the English navy, indentured servitude (or, why I know Niall Ferguson is Not Even Wrong) and the real historical basis for Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Once again, I'm not doing it justice. It's fascinating, if somewhat information- and concept-dense, but is more than worth the effort it requires.
It's a must-read for anyone who cares about the people who get written out of history.
I finished this before I went on holiday but didn't have time to write it up.
This book is about (among other things) how some of the more radical ideas cooked up in the British Civil War (which were largely sold out as Cromwell established his power base) were taken to the New World by a collection of sailors, slaves, pirates, labourers, and indentured servants, including women. These ideas became the basis for the American revolution as well as more slave revolts than I can count. However, by the time of the actual Revolution, the likes of George Washington and Tom Paine were deeply suspicious of the lower classes, so this story got written out of history.
The book starts with the increasing enclosures and loss of the commons in the Tudor era, which were still a major issue by the time of the Civil War, and how the rise of capitalism and wage labour depends on the appropriation of the commons. Along the way it touches upon piracy in the Atlantic world, the multi-racial makeup of the English navy, indentured servitude (or, why I know Niall Ferguson is Not Even Wrong) and the real historical basis for Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Once again, I'm not doing it justice. It's fascinating, if somewhat information- and concept-dense, but is more than worth the effort it requires.
It's a must-read for anyone who cares about the people who get written out of history.
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Date: 2011-05-01 05:35 pm (UTC)