Thinking with islands, living with coasts: John Gillis and the making of a blue Atlantic

Exploring the legacy of historian John R. Gillis (1939–2021), this special issue introduction examines the evolution of coastal studies as a field. It shows how Gillis did much to inspire a new generation of interdisciplinary oceanic scholarship that draws from human geography, Atlantic history, global history, environmental history, the history of science and technology, and blue cultural studies. By reimagining the living sea as a subject of, rather than a backdrop for, historical and literary analysis, this swell of research has helped build a “blue Atlantic.”