John K. Thornton is Professor of History and African American Studies at Boston University. He is the author of Warfare in Atlantic Africa, 1500–1800 (1999) and Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400–1800 (Cambridge, 1992, 1998) and the co-author of Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles and the Foundation of the Americas, 1585–1660 (Cambridge, 2007) with Linda M. Heywood.

'John Thornton captures the moment Africa, Europe and the Americas came together and the new world that was created. A Cultural History of the Atlantic World [1250–1820] will be a foundation stone in the study of the Atlantic, simultaneously an entry point for novices, a reference for established scholars, and a guide for future studies. An extraordinary achievement.' Ira Berlin, University of Maryland

• Part I. The Atlantic Background: 1. The foundation of the Atlantic world, 1250–1600; Part II. Three Atlantic Worlds: 2. The European background; 3. The African background; 4. The American world, 1450–1700; Part III. The Nature of Encounter and its Aftermath: 5. Conquest; 6. Colonization; 7. Contact; Part IV. Culture Transition and Change: 8. Transfer and retention in language; 9. Aesthetic change; 10. Religious stability and change; 11. The revolutionary moment in the Atlantic.

John K. Thornton is Professor of History and African American Studies at Boston University. He is the author of Warfare in Atlantic Africa, 1500–1800 (1999) and Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400–1800 (Cambridge, 1992, 1998) and the co-author of Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles and the Foundation of the Americas, 1585–1660 (Cambridge, 2007) with Linda M. Heywood.

'John Thornton captures the moment Africa, Europe and the Americas came together and the new world that was created. A Cultural History of the Atlantic World [1250–1820] will be a foundation stone in the study of the Atlantic, simultaneously an entry point for novices, a reference for established scholars, and a guide for future studies. An extraordinary achievement.' Ira Berlin, University of Maryland

• Part I. The Atlantic Background: 1. The foundation of the Atlantic world, 1250–1600; Part II. Three Atlantic Worlds: 2. The European background; 3. The African background; 4. The American world, 1450–1700; Part III. The Nature of Encounter and its Aftermath: 5. Conquest; 6. Colonization; 7. Contact; Part IV. Culture Transition and Change: 8. Transfer and retention in language; 9. Aesthetic change; 10. Religious stability and change; 11. The revolutionary moment in the Atlantic.