Atlantic history is a fast developing field of historical inquiry that operates upon new assumptions about how to understand interactions between different peoples and cultures on four continents and many islands in the period between Columbus’ voyages to the New World in the late fifteenth century and the end of slavery in the Americas in the late nineteenth century. Its principal theme is the movement of peoples, ideas and things in the Atlantic World – a world encompassing the continents of Africa, Europe, North America and South America and many islands, from the Canary Islands near Africa to the Caribbean islands and to Bermuda in the North Atlantic. The multiple movements were fundamentally important in shaping the modern world and in making cultural diversity a key component of modern identity. Continuously updated, a range of scholars from numerous countries write articles that summarize the best in scholarship now available.
