From the voyage of the Argonauts to the Tailhook scandal, seafaring has long been one of the most glaringly male-dominated occupations. In this groundbreaking interdisciplinary study, Margaret Creighton, Lisa Norling, and their co-authors explore the relationship of gender and seafaring in the Anglo-American age of sail. Drawing on a wide range of American and British sources--from diaries, logbooks, and account ledgers to songs, poetry, fiction, and a range of public sources--the authors show how popular fascination with seafaring and the sailors' rigorous, male-only life led to models of...

The 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, opened amid a fanfare of stunning colors and electric lights; its wonders, both strange and magnificent, dazzled the public.

Then tragedy struck. An assassin stalked the fairgrounds, waiting for President William McKinley. A female daredevil captivated crowds by trying to ride a barrel over Niagara Falls. Apache leader Geronimo startled visitors with a controversial performance. And a showman called the Animal King, the self-proclaimed star of the Midway, announced that one of his acts, the smallest woman in the world and the...