Frank Trentmann

When Britannia ruled the southern waves

Sujit Sivasundaram takes Britain’s bid for supremacy to the ‘forgotten quarter’ of the Pacific and Indian oceans

View from the deck of the Upton Castle of British troops landing in Mauritius on 29 November 1810. Four days later the French capitulated. From ‘Sixteen Views... illustrative of the Proceedings of the Forces employ’d on the expedition sent from Bombay’, engraved by I. Clark, 1813 [Bridgeman Images] 
issue 29 August 2020

  • Waves Across the South: A New History of Revolution and Empire

    Sujit Sivasundaram

    William Collins, pp. 468, £25

In 1798, Tipu Sultan of Mysore sent an embassy to Mauritius. At home, he had fought the British and seen his kingdom shrink. Now he hoped to recruit Mauritian republicans in a joint fight. Mauritius had been a base for French troops attacking the British in India in the 1780s.

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