Harriet Martineau's Writing on the British Empire
General Editor: Deborah Logan
Advisory Editors: Antoinette Burton and Kitty Sklar
With a preface by Patrick Brantlinger
The Pickering Masters
978 1 85196 768 1: 234x156mm: £450.00/$795.00
This set, the first in our series on Martineau's work, focuses on her writings on imperialism. Although she has been labelled the ‘first woman sociologist’ and the ‘first woman journalist’ Martineau consistently applied the approach of a consummate historian. No matter what topic she undertook to write about, she always established the historical context of her topic first as the necessary precursor for understanding modern times.
Martineau's interest in imperialism is thus tempered by her regard for historical precedent and her insightful ability always to perceive the big picture even while focused on the minutiae of current events. An example of this is seen in her British Rule in India (1857), which illuminates the events surrounding the 1857–8 Indian mutiny by studying Anglo-Indian relations over a much longer time span. This, in turn, prepares for her Suggestions Toward the Future Government of India (1858), which addresses solutions for repairing fractured relations while instituting bureaucratic changes that would prevent similar problems in the future.
The selected texts are introduced and annotated, thus providing a substantial historical and social context through which to measure the worth of her participation in this discourse. The edition will be of interest to scholars of colonialism, women’s writing, Victorian studies, sociology and journalism.
- Chosen as an Outstanding Academic Title of 2005 by CHOICE. This marks it as 'the best of the best in published scholarship'.
Contents
Volume 1
The Empire Question
'Life in the Wilds' (1832); 'Demerara' (1833); 'Cinnamon and Pearls' (1833); 'Dawn Island' (1845)
Volume 2
The Middle Eastern Question
Eastern Life, Present and Past (1848), Part I
Volume 3
The Middle Eastern Question
Eastern Life, Present and Past (1848), Part II
Volume 4
The Irish Question
'Ireland' (1832); Letters from Ireland (1852); Endowed Schools of Ireland (1858)
Volume 5
The India Question
British Rule In India. A Historical Sketch (1857); Suggestions Towards The Future Government Of India (1858); India [Our Ignorance of India], Daily News (1857); India [‘Review of the Year’], Daily News (1857); India, [Understanding India] Daily News (1858); East India Company [Land], Daily News (1858); East India Company [Taxation], Daily News (1858); East India Company [Justice], Daily News (1858); East India Company [Treatment of Criminals], Daily News (1858); East India Company [Public Works], Daily News (1858); East India Company [Education], Daily News (1858); East India Company [Public Works], Daily News (1858); East India Company [Welfare of Natives], Daily News (1858); East India Company [Final Dissolution], Daily News (1858); China [Sir John Bowring], Daily News (1857); China [British Aggression], Daily News, (1857); China [and the Indian Mutiny], Daily News (1857); China [Impending War], Daily News (1857); China [‘Review of the Year’], Daily News (1857); China [Canton], Daily News (1858); China [Canton and Western Trade], Daily News (1858)
Reviews
‘One of the difficulties inherent in teaching undergraduates about the past outside of the US has been the paucity of primary documents. This valuable collection of the writings of Harriet Martineau solves this problem...these volumes offer an invaluable resource for beginning as well as informed students in a large number of subject areas involving the 19th-century world. Summing Up: Essential. All levels and libraries.’
– C Curran, CHOICE