Global History and Maritime History

The expanding literatures in global history and maritime history invite comparison. Here a global historian uses metaphoric characterizations to show the distinctive breadth and specificity of each field. The essay notes the recurrent alternation of maritime and terrestrial leadership in technology and society as well as occasional sharp shifts in the maritime social order. Maritime historians, in pursuing their own agendas, can thus contribute substantially to global histories of technology, empires, property and more. In sum, the two fields, while advancing on distinct paths, have much to share.