The Madagascar Youths

Gwyn Campbell is founding Director of the Indian Ocean World Centre at McGill University, General Editor of the Palgrave Series in Indian Ocean World Studies, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies. He held a Canada Research Chair for the maximum tenure (2005-19) and has published widely on Africa and the wider Indian Ocean world, including An Economic History of Imperial Madagascar, 1750-1895 (2005), David Griffiths and the Missionary 'History of Madagascar' (2012), Africa and the Indian Ocean World from early times to 1900 (2019) and The Travels of Robert Lyall, 1789-1831 (2020).

• 1. The context; 2. Britain; 3. Mauritius; 4. The British navy; 5. Industry; 6. Musicians and naval ambitions; 7. The Twins, diplomacy, and British allegiance.

'Gwyn Campbell has produced an original and deeply researched microhistory. It connects the Indian Ocean with Europe and Africa in novel ways, it sheds light on technology transfers, perceptions of Madagascar, sociability, missionary outlooks, education, slavery, intercultural connections, and colonialism. The sections on musical training in Mauritius, on Malagasy youngsters in British academies, asylums and military vessels, and language across the Indian Ocean, are all captivating. Many of the portraits and vivid details are bound to stick with readers.' Eric Jennings, University of Toronto