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This article follows up on the book The French Anarchists in London, 1880-1914 (2013), by exploring some primary material uncovered since this publication, and considering the ways in which research into the history of anarchism as a transnational movement has evolved. In the years since the publication of this book, a great deal of research has furthered or challenged its findings, especially in relation to print culture and the study of global anarchist networks. The mass digitisation of periodicals (both anarchist and mainstream) and archives in the last ten years offers new tools to find detailed information about the personal and political lives of these elusive anarchists in London - and further afield, thus rectifying the original study's London-centric focus. These sources are also crucial in documenting the ways in which anarchists were perceived and portrayed in Britain, France and internationally, and constructed into a major public threat through media discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of British merchant shipping in the age of steam was stimulated by the employment of crews from the Indian subcontinent. Among the lowest paid in the industry, Indian seafarers were pioneering international workers who made up nearly a third of the British maritime workforce in 1937. Labelled generically as 'lascars', their employment on contracts resembling indenture reinforced their status as 'coolies', promoted the deskilling of maritime work, and instituted racialized work hierarchies in merchant shipping, which endure to this day within and beyond the industry. This article presents a brief account of the living and working conditions of subcontinental seafarers, explores the attitude of the British unions to their employment, and highlights their crucial contribution to the expansion of British imperial shipping and more generally to the maritime dimension of British imperial power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]