Historians have only recently begun to chart the experiences of maritime regions in rich detail and penetrate the historical processes at work there. Seascapes makes a major contribution to these efforts by bringing together original scholarship on historical issues arising from maritime regions around the world.

The essays presented here take a variety of approaches. One group examines the material, cultural, and intellectual constructs that explain historical experiences of maritime regions. Another set discusses efforts to impose political and military control over these regions. A third group focuses on the social history of subaltern populations. The final essays deal with piracy in Mediterranean, Japanese, and Atlantic waters.