1st Edition

Modern Travel in World History

By Tom Taylor Copyright 2022
    202 Pages 7 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    202 Pages 7 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Modern Travel in World History uses three themes–technology, mass movements and travelers–to examine the history of the modern world from the fifteenth-century transatlantic explorations to the impact of the global COVID pandemic of the twenty-first century.

    This book focuses on both the evolving nature of travel, from land and sea routes in the 1500s to the domination of planes and cars in the modern world, and the important stories of travelers themselves. Taking a global perspective, the text places travel within the larger geopolitical, social, religious and cultural developments throughout history. It emphasizes not only the role of technology innovation in the ways people travel but also how those changes affect social structures and cultural values. Tom Taylor explores the journeys of well-known travelers as well as ordinary people, each with different perspectives, through the lens of gender, social class and cultural background, and considers how fictional travelers define the importance of travel in the modern world. Why people set out on the sojourns they did, what they experienced, who they met and how they understood these cross-cultural encounters are important to not only understanding the travelers themselves but the world they lived in and the world their travels made. Several maps help illustrate important routes and destinations.

    This book will be of interest to students of world history and literature.

    0. Introduction, 1. Global Travel and the Making of the Modern World, 2. The Jesuits and the Making of a Global Missionary Order, 3. Travelers and Travel in the Islamic World, 4. The Atlantic Slave Trade, 5. Enlightened Travelers and the Search for Laws of Nature, 6. The Industrial Revolution and Global Transportation, 7. Global Migration in the Nineteenth Century, 8. Political and Social Reformers in the Nineteenth Century, 9. Travel and Imperialism, 10. Cars, Planes and Cargo Ships: The Twentieth Century, 11. War and Revolutions in the Early Twentieth Century, 12. Dictatorships, The Great Depression and World War Two, 13. Cold War Conflicts, Youth Rebellions and Decolonization Movements, 14. Continuity and Change After the End of the Cold War

    Biography

    Tom Taylor is an associate professor of history at Seattle University, where he teaches a wide variety of courses focusing on travel and travelers in the modern world.

    Honorable mention for the 2023 World History Connected Book Award