Atlantic history and global history

There have been so many recent advocates for Atlantic history that David Armitage has declared us all to be Atlanticists now. While conceding Armitage's point that the subject of Atlantic history has become fashionable, and while saluting his effort to define a British Atlantic, there is such limited agreement over what the subject entails that it might be said that there are as many varieties of Atlantic history as there are Atlanticists. This chapter seeks to bring clarity to the study of the subject in three ways. First, it provides a taxonomy of six prescriptions that have been advanced by various practitioners of Atlantic history so that the strengths and shortcomings of each can be considered; second, it discusses two books which, each in its own way, challenge the legitimacy or importance of Atlantic history; and third, it offers some counters to these challenges and justifies the continued study of Atlantic history once it has been clearly distinguished from global history.