Oceania under steam: Sea transport and the cultures of colonialism, c. 1870-1914

The age of steam was the age of Britain’s global maritime dominance, the age of enormous ocean liners and human mastery over the seas. The world seemed to shrink as timetabled shipping mapped out faster, more efficient and more reliable transoceanic networks. But what did this transport revolution look like at the other end of the line, at the edge of empire in the South Pacific?

Through the historical example of the largest and most important regional maritime enterprise - the Union Steam S...