Ratcliffe Highway - the heart of London's sailortown - had a notorious reputation for knife crime and immorality in the nineteenth century. In this episode, Brad Beaven, Professor of Social and Cultural History at the University of Portsmouth, shares research from his new book about this cosmopolitan and waterfront district. He explains the myths and realities of life in an 'international contact zone', the impact of the sensationalist press, and the role of women in managing sailortown institutions, including boarding houses and pubs. His book, published by Manchester University Press, is called The Devil's Highway: Urban Anxieties and Subaltern Cultures in London's Sailortown, c. 1850-1900. 

Professor Beaven also speaks about work underway at the Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures, which he co-directs, at the University of Portsmouth. He refers to the distinctiveness and importance of urban-maritime research, and the value of co-producing knowledge, especially with partners in the global south as part of the Sail to Steam, Carbon to Green project funded by Lloyd's Register Foundation.

The podcast is presented and produced by Dr Guy Collender, of the Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures at the University of Portsmouth.

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