Robert J. Antony, a research professor of Asian history in the Department of History, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Macau (UM), recently co-edited two special issues on “Piracy in Asian Waters” of the Journal of Early Modern History (issue 16, 2012 and issue 17, 2013), with Prof. Sebastian Prange from the University of British Columbia. The two special issues consist of eight articles on various aspects of pan-Asian piracy from the 14th century to the early 19th century.

Established in 1996, the Journal of Early Modern History publishes original research of an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural nature on the early modern period (roughly from the year 1300 to 1800). It is internationally recognised as one of the premier scholarly journals in world history. Prof. Antony notes that the publication is a result of the International Conference on Asian Piracy from Historical Perspectives, which was held at UM from 24 November to 26 November, in 2010, and which was co-organised by Prof. Robert Antony and Prof. Akiko Sugiyama from UM as well as Prof. Sebastian Prange from the University of British Columbia. After the conference, Prof. Antony single-authored an article entitled “Bloodthirsty Pirates? Violence and Terror on the South China Sea in Early Modern Times.”, as well as co-authored two introductory articles entitled “The Social and Economic Dynamics of Piracy in Early Modern Asia” and “Piracy, Sovereignty, and the Early Modern Asian State.” with Prof. Prange.

Prof. Antony received his PhD degree in history from the University of Hawaii. Currently he teaches East Asian and Comparative History at UM. His research interests mainly include Asian and world maritime history, as well as the social, cultural, and legal history of China. His recent publications include Like Froth Floating on the Sea: The World of Pirates and Seafarers in Late Imperial South China (University of California, China Research Monograph, 2003), Pirates in the Age of Sail (W.W. Norton, 2007), and Turbulent Waters: Pirates of the South China Seas (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Press, 2013). His current research focus is on the social and religious history of the Gulf of Tonkin maritime frontier in the Ming and Qing dynasties.


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