Prof. Thornton Publishes New Cultural History of the Atlantic World
Cambridge University press has just announced the publication of Professor John Thornton’s latest book, A Cultural History of the Atlantic World, 1250–1820. Exploring the linkages in the histories of Africa, Europe, and North and South America, Thornton traces the backgrounds of the populations on these three continental landmasses brought into contact by European navigation and the political and social implications of the encounters, excavating the origins of a variety of Atlantic societies and showing how new ways of eating, drinking, speaking, and worshipping developed in the newly created Atlantic World. According to Ira Berlin, the author of Many Thousands Gone, “John Thornton captures the moment Africa, Europe and the Americas came together and the new world that was created. A Cultural History of the Atlantic World [1250–1820] will be a foundation stone in the study of the Atlantic, simultaneously an entry point for novices, a reference for established scholars, and a guide for future studies. An extraordinary achievement.”
