Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the strength of Liverpool's merchant marine, representing both informal and formal empire over centuries. The numbers of non-white colonial immigrants in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Liverpool were relatively small. The book also focuses on interracial relationships in 1950s and 1960s Liverpool to demonstrate that many African and Afro-Caribbean sailors (and others) married or had relationships with white women. It provides a classic example of how Liverpool's long-standing colonial connections had a disturbing influence upon popular attitudes into and beyond the era of decolonisation. The city's international commercial relationships have been characterised as 'global' rather than imperial in nature, downplaying the intertwining of the interests of all its social groups with those of the empire.