The nine essays collected in this volume are based on ‘The British Maritime History Seminars, 2007: Health and Medicine at Sea’, convened by the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. The seminars took place at the Institute of Historical Research (IHR), University of London, from January to June 2007. Supporting and sponsoring new research into maritime history is a core priority for the National Maritime Museum, as is disseminating this research to a wider audience through publications, exhibitions, online work, and the Museum's conference, lecture and wider educational programme. In 1999 the Museum launched an initiative to establish an annual series of seminars on British maritime history, and enlisted the help of the naval historian Professor N.A.M. Rodger of Exeter University (now at All Souls College, Oxford), and Professor David Cannadine, then Director of the IHR. Together with Dr Margarette Lincoln and Dr Nigel Rigby of the National Maritime Museum, Professors Rodger and Cannadine subsequently became convenors of the newly-formed ‘British Maritime History Seminars’. The series has been held at the IHR ever since, and the National Maritime Museum is indebted to the Institute for its continued enthusiasm and support.

The seminars aim to be a platform for the many new approaches being taken in maritime history, by new and established scholars, with each annual series embracing a different theme. Alongside the Museum's broader research programme, the seminars have been instrumental in encouraging an interdisciplinary approach to the subject. Over the years a variety of themes have been explored, from ‘Geographies: Mapping Maritime Cultures and Trades’ and ‘Britain and the Atlantic World’, to ‘Seapower and Empire’ and ‘Cultures and Commerce’. Most recently, the themes have been ‘The Sea as a Stage: Enacting and Re-enacting Maritime History’ (2008) and ‘Ship and Shore’ (2009).

The 2007 series on ‘Health and Medicine at Sea’ was particularly successful, due perhaps to the very cohesive nature of its subject matter. It is the first of the British Maritime History Seminar series to be published, but (we hope) not the last. Most of the essays in this volume are based on the actual seminar papers given in the series, although we are indebted to our contributors for their eagerness to seek out and include even newer research.

Finally, I would like to thank Dr John Cardwell for his very helpful advice and assistance when I was programming the original seminar series in 2006.