The Bloody Flag: Mutiny in the Age of Atlantic Revolution

摘要

The 1797 mutinies in the British Navy at Spithead and the Nore are well-trod subjects. In The Bloody Flag: Mutiny in the Age of Atlantic Revolution, Niklas Frykman, a University of Pittsburgh professor, brings forth the lesser-known stories of strikes and mutinies during that decade that roiled the British fleet-and the navies of France and Holland as well. His thesis, which is new and which he largely proves, is that there was a transnational movement of seamen radicalized by appalling "working conditions" and revolutionary politics (wrought by the French Revolution, the ideals of which affected other European navies) that nearly upset the existing imperial order during the late 18th century with a desire for "popular sovereignty" on board ship.