The Yellow Flag: Quarantine and the British Mediterranean World, 1780-1860

In the 19th century, Western European nations enforced quarantine laws to detain inbound traders, travelers, soldiers, sailors, merchants, missionaries, letters, and trade goods from the Ottoman Empire and North Africa. Alex Chase-Levenson explores Britain's engagement with this Mediterranean border regime, highlighting its impact on public health and European integration.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 319 pages
Publication date: 27 October 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

In Western European nations until the middle of the nineteenth century, strict quarantine laws were in place, requiring the detention of all inbound traders, travelers, soldiers, sailors, merchants, missionaries, letters, and trade goods arriving from the Ottoman Empire and North Africa. These quarantines were often carried out in large, imposing fortresses located in Mediterranean port cities. Alex Chase-Levenson delves into Britain's engagement with this Mediterranean border regime from various perspectives. He explores how quarantine practices laid the groundwork for the state's provision of public health and served as an early example of European integration. Positioned at the crossroads of political, cultural, diplomatic, and medical history, The Yellow Flag vividly captures the essence of quarantine as an experience, its profound administrative implications, and its novelty as an innovative model of a continental border constructed from the ground up by low-level bureaucrats.

In Western European nations until the middle of the nineteenth century, strict quarantine laws were in place, requiring the detention of all inbound traders, travelers, soldiers, sailors, merchants, missionaries, letters, and trade goods arriving from the Ottoman Empire and North Africa. These quarantines were often carried out in large, imposing fortresses located in Mediterranean port cities. Alex Chase-Levenson delves into Britain's engagement with this Mediterranean border regime from various perspectives. He explores how quarantine practices laid the groundwork for the state's provision of public health and served as an early example of European integration. Positioned at the crossroads of political, cultural, diplomatic, and medical history, The Yellow Flag vividly captures the essence of quarantine as an experience, its profound administrative implications, and its novelty as an innovative model of a continental border constructed from the ground up by low-level bureaucrats.

ISBN-13: 9781108707282