'Seaport' deals with many aspects of the history and development of Liverpool, drawing on a wide range of documentary sources, and culminating with a vivid account of what the national press called the Toxteth Riots of 1981. This event is seen in the context of the repressive policing methods of the day, especially as directed at black youths . . . and] . . . in the historical context of Liverpool s notorious role in the slave trade, and of subsequent patterns of racial discrimination . . . (Peter Barry)"

In 1908, Joseph Conrad was criticised by a reviewer for being a man ‘without either country or language’: even his shipboard communities were the product of a ‘cosmopolitan’ vision. This book takes off from that criticism and begins by exploring the history and meanings of the term ‘cosmopolitan’. It then considers the multinational world of Conrad’s ships – and of the Merchant Marine more generally – to differentiate multinationalism from cosmopolitanism. Subsequent chapters then address nationalism, nation-formation and the concept of the nation through a reading of...