Shipping Lords and Coolie Stokers

Ravi Ahuja is Professor of Modern Indian History at the University of Göttingen and has previously taught at SOAS in London and in Heidelberg. He is a social historian of South Asia in the 18th through 20th centuries. He has extensively published on the history of labour, of war, and of infrastructure. His books include Pathways of Empire: Circulation, 'Public Works' and Social Space in Colonial Orissaand Working Lives and Worker Militancy: The Politics of Labour in Colonial India. He co-edited the path-breaking collection The World in World Wars. Experiences, Perceptions and Perspectives from the South.

This gem of a book the delivers micro-history at its best. It is a genuine page-turner, a riveting read, which challenges widely-held notions of 'agency'.

• Introduction: 'Lascar' Seamen and 'Racial Management' under Steamship Capitalism1. Collision Course: British Merchant Shipping and the Loss of a Mail Steamer2. Good Copy: The Savagery of Panic-Stricken 'Natives'3. Spelling Disaster: Class and Race When a Ship Goes Down4. Indian Outrage: Who Speaks for the 'Lascar'?5. Lines of Defence: 'Natives, Properly Led'6. Discomforting Testimonies: Eight 'Native Seamen' in Court7. Communication Collapse: The Steamship and 'Naval Hindustani'8. Fireroom Hierarchy: Stoking, Skill, and Status9. Stoker's Stigma: The Two Lives of the 'Hairy Ape'10. Gains of 'Racial Management': Manning Scales and Liner Schedules11. The Break-Up: Findings, Rulings, and the Limits of 'Racial Management'12. Course Adjustment: The Names of the 'Native'AcknowledgementsIndex