Menacing Tides - Security, Piracy and Empire in the Nineteenth-Century Mediterranean

New ideas of security spelled the end of piracy on the Mediterranean Sea during the nineteenth century. As European states ended their military conflicts and privateering wars against one another, they turned their attention to the 'Barbary pirates' of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. Naval commanders, diplomats, merchant lobbies and activists cooperated for the first time against this shared threat. Together, they installed a new order of security at sea. Drawing on European and Ottoman archival records - from diplomatic correspondence and naval journals to songs, poems and pamphlets - Erik de Lange explores how security was used in the nineteenth century to legitimise the repression of piracy. This repression brought European imperial expansionism and colonial rule to North Africa. By highlighting the crucial role of security within international relations, Menacing Tides demonstrates how European cooperation against shared threats remade the Mediterranean and unleashed a new form of collaborative imperialism.

List of contents

Introduction; 1. Of knights and pirates. Barbary corsairing before and during the Congress of Vienna, 1814-1815; 2. Opening fire. The Anglo-Dutch bombardment of Algiers, 1815-1816; 3. 'To give law to the world'. Contesting security, 1816-1824; 4. 'No security, except in destruction'. The French invasion of Algiers, 1827-1830; 5. Beyond the Littoral. Treaties, colonies and legacies, 1830-1856; Conclusion.

About the author

Erik de Lange is an Assistant Professor at Utrecht University. He completed his PhD within the ERC-funded research project 'Securing Europe, Fighting Its Enemies. The Making of a Security Culture in Europe and Beyond, 1815–1914'. In 2022–2024, he was a visiting research fellow at King's College London.

Product details

• Authors: Erik de Lange, Erik (Universiteit Utrecht De Lange
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 31.12.2025
• EAN: 9781009364119
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0936411-9
• No. of pages: 345
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; European History, HISTORY / Military / General, HISTORY / Europe / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / History & Theory, POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / Diplomacy, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Colonialism & Post-Colonialism, POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / General, military history, HISTORY / Maritime History & Piracy, International Relations, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, maritime history, Diplomacy, Colonialism and imperialism, Mediterranean countries, Decolonisation and postcolonial studies, Mediterranean countries / Mediterranean basin