Shallow Blue Empire: A History of Pearl Diving in the Indian Ocean, 1850-1930

A nuanced history of seafaring communities in the Indian Ocean, where the force of British imperial power depended on the expertise of local divers and sailors to feed a global demand for pearls.

In the late nineteenth century, thousands of men and boys across the northern rim of the Indian Ocean dove daily to the ocean floor in search of pearl-bearing oysters. It was the height of the so-called global pearl boom, driven by enormous demand for pearls in Europe and North America. Far removed ...