Overview

In the eighteenth century, as wars between Britain, France, and their allies raged across the world, hundreds of thousands of people were captured, detained, or exchanged. They were shipped across oceans, marched across continents, or held in an indeterminate limbo. The Society of Prisoners challenges us to rethink the paradoxes of the prisoner of war, defined at once as an enemy and as a fellow human being whose life must be spared. Renaud Morieux redefines how we understand the notion of what a prisoner of war was before international legal and social conventions were introduced - in the eighteenth century, the distinction between a prisoner of war, a hostage, a criminal, and a slave was not always clear-cut. Morieux then uses war captivity as a lens through which to observe the eighteenth-century state, how it transformed itself, and why it endured. In so doing, he invites the reader to trace the history of the prisoners via a journey between Britain, France, the West Indies, and St Helena.

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9780192868039

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Reviews

The comparison between different societies of prisoners could certainly be extended to other spaces and times, further attesting to the rich comparative potential of Morieux's work and the interest it should garner beyond specialists of Franco-British relations. * Guillaume Calafat, Historical Journal * The Society of Prisoners provides highly insightful passages on the range of prize courts and jurisdictions, the role of private forms of naval warfare, the plurality of authorities that governed captivity, and the manifold forms that captivity could take. * Guillaume Calafat, Professor, University of Paris, Historical Journal * Interesting and original ... a real transnational history from below. * Margaret Hunt, Historical Journal * Insightful * Rachel Weil, Historical Journal * A magisterial study. * Alan Forrest, Annales Historiques de la Revolution Francaise [translated] * Rich and sophisticated ... a vivid social history. * Matthew McCormack, English Historical Review * At a time when Anglo-French relations are once more under scrutiny, Morieux has produced a fascinating exploration of a complex cross-channel social phenomenon. * Matthew McCormack, The English Historical Review * The book is valuable for the expansiveness of its scope in framing other, more focused studies and will, one hopes, prompt others in turn. * K.J. Kesselring, Dalhousie University, Canadian Journal of History * In a work that is both theoretically informed and exhaustively researched, Morieux offers fresh insight into the consequences of war for European society. * Randall McGowen, Professor Emeritus, University of Oregon, Historical Journal *

Author Information

Renaud Morieux has been a lecturer in British history at Cambridge since 2011, before which he lectured in modern history at Lille for five years. He is Professor of British and European History at Pembroke College, Cambridge. His career, spanning the Channel, exemplifies his attempts to cross the intellectual and academic borders between France and Britain.

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