Informal history of waterfront districts and the way of life of the sailor in seaports the world over, illustrated with drawings by the author.

This volume examines how people have been making, using and transforming buildings and built environments, and how buildings have been perceived, from the Byzantine period to modern times. It also considers a diversity of built constructions – including dwellings and public buildings, sheds and manor houses, and secular and sacral structures.

A variety of new approaches are used to look at the early modern European city.

Merseyside: Culture and Place demonstrates how Liverpool and Merseyside have a rich, fascinating and sometimes controversial cultural history. The result of a conference held to mark Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2008, this interdisciplinary volume contains chapters by scholars working in a variety of fields, including Geography, Art, English, Marketing and History. There are many facets to Merseyside’s cultural history, and the contributors to this publication bring their own perspective to bear on various features of the area’s rich heritage. Taking in examples from the early modern era to the present day, Merseyside: Culture and Place draws attention to often overlooked cultural forms, such as sketches of the Mersey by J. M. W. Turner and the fan culture exhibited on Liverpool FC’s Kop. Each chapter in the book is based on original research and the contributors set their findings in a local, national and, in some cases, an international context. Both academics and general readers will find much of interest in a book that reflects Merseyside’s distinctive and multi-faceted character.

This book explores the tenuous existence of seafarers, divided between their time on the ocean and their residence in sailortown economies geared to exploit them. Particular attention is given both to the contribution of seafarers as a global workforce into the nineteenth century, and to their help in creating vibrant multicultural enclaves in port cities worldwide. In addition, research explores the scandalized opinions of outside observers, challenging ideas about public behavior and relationships. Sailortown myths persisted far into the twentieth century, to the detriment of older waterfront districts and their residents, and readers will find this book is invaluable in casting new light on forgotten communities, whose lives bridged urban, maritime and global histories.