Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre - Imperial Wine: How the British Empire Made Wine’s New World

Qui Transtulit Sustinet is the motto of the state of Connecticut: he who transplanted still sustains. The accompanying state shield, designed in the 1930s, shows three grape vines laden with heavy fruit. This emblem is illustrative of the main argument of this book, that British settler colonialism looked to viticulture to demonstrate civilizational progress. It is also apt to the book itself: when I began researching this topic in Cambridge in 2011, I did not imagine that the book and I would be transplanted multiple times. She who transplanted, sustained, and finally finished.

When extroverts write long, interdisciplinary books, there are many people to thank. My first debts are to Peter Mandler and Hugh Johnson. Peter encouraged me to throw aside the predictable (and ponderous) book I had been researching, and to write this one instead. Placet, Peter. Hugh Johnson asked me to do a bit of historical research for him in 2012. This was not a fair transaction: I learned an enormous amount from Hughs generous mind, and I think he learned very little from me. For this, and for warmly encouraging me to write a history of London as the center of the global wine trade, I thank him.

In Cambridge, I am thankful to Peter de Bolla, with whose blessings I joined the Kings College Wine Committee, which was an extraordinary education. For collegiality, friendship, and encouragement at Kings, I thank all the fellows and staff, and especially Rowan Rose Boyson, Daniel Wilson, Victoria Harris, Brian Sloan, Tim Flack, David Good, Nicholas Marston, Robin Osborne, Megan Vaughan, Mark Smith, Peter Young, Richard Lloyd Morgan, and Tom Cumming. In the Faculty of History, I am thankful for stimulating discussion with Eugenio Biagini, Lucy Delap, Ben Griffin, Tim Harper, Renaud Morieux, Richard Serjeantson, Sujit Sivasundaram, and Emma Spary. Very special thanks to Alex Walsham, for her kindness and friendship, and to Jon Lawrence, who has great taste in wine. I am grateful to the Huntington Library Trinity Hall Fellowship, which allowed me to spend a month at Trinity Hall in 2017. I am particularly thankful to Jeremy Morris, Clare Jackson, Alexander Marr, Michael Hobson, William OReilly, and Colm McGrath, who made me so welcome.

In Paris, I thank Kerstin Carlson and Cary Hollinshead-Strick, for many laughs and for solidarity in scholarship. I thank fellow writers Olivier Magny for getting me into wine, and Frdric Vigroux for teaching me to wield a sabre. For further wine-related chats, I thank Marissa Ocasio and my WSET tasting team, Kristin Cook Tarbell and Erin OReilly.

In Hartford, at Trinity College, I thank my colleagues in the Department of History, past and current: Clark Alejandrino, Zayde Antrim, Jeff Bayliss, Sean Cocco, Jonathan Elukin, Dario Euraque, Luis Figueroa, Scott Gac, Cheryl Greenberg, Joan Hedrick, Sam Kassow, Kathleen Kete, Michael Lestz, Seth Markle, Gary Reger, Allison Rodriguez, and Tom Wickman. Special thanks to modern superhero Gigi St. Peter. In the Dean of Facultys office, I have been grateful for the unwavering support of Sonia Cardenas, Anne Lambright, Melanie Stein, Mitch Polin, Taku Miyazaki, and Tim Cresswell. Joanne Berger-Sweeney frequently encouraged me to write this bookby which I mean, finish this book. It paid off! I raise a glass of Ruinart to Cornie Thornburgh, for encouragement. Ben Carbonetti and Kristin Miller hosted my most productive writers retreat, and chapter 10 is thanks to them.

Trinity Colleges Faculty Research Committee and Institute of Interdisciplinary Study awarded me multiple travel and manuscript grants, without which I could not have written this book.

Teaching at a small liberal arts college, I have been grateful to students in my British and wine history classes, who have been great sports about reading my work in progress. For their insightful comments, I particularly thank Matthew Benedict, Ansel Burn, Brendan Clark, Claudia Deeley, Kit Epstein, Tate Given, Macy Handy, Kip Lynch, Maia Madison, Tess Meagher, Daniel Mittelman, Gillian Reinhard, and Anthony Sasser. I also am grateful for the Public Humanities Collaborative and the Faculty Research Committee for funding undergraduate research assistants to work with me in the summers. Jaymie Bianca, Masho Strogoff, Doris Wang, and Kyr William-Smith all read drafts of the book and offered me their honest feedback; thanks to Rich Malley and Cynthia Riccio for partnering with me on this summer project. Tanuja Budraj and Federico Cedolini helped me to organize thousands of archival photos. The brilliant Haley Dougherty spent hours poring over South African trade data with me and entering it into Excel. A glutton for punishment, she gave up a day at the beach to help me work through archives in South Australia.

Librarians and archivists are wonderful, and I am grateful to all who have helped me track down material, in person and online. A few deserve special mention: Yannick and Steve in Microfilms at Archives Canada, and Agneiszka Ochal and Sam Percival for their assistance (and for giving me a bouquet of flowers!) at Murray Edwards College. At Trinity, huge thanks to Rick Ring, Erin Valentino, Peter Rawson, Sally Dickinson, Sue Denning, Jason Jones, Christina Bleyer, Angie Wolf, Cait Kennedy, and Mary Mahoney. Cheryl Cape is in a class of her own, for so much help over the years, and for creating the maps in this book using ArcGIS.

Material in this book was shared at many conferences and seminars and I thank both convenors and participants for their helpful feedback: at Yale, thanks to Tim Barringer, Becky Conekin, and Paul Freedman; at the Northeast Conference of British Studies meetings, particular thanks to Lucy Curzon, Paul Deslandes, Caroline Shaw, Lacey Sparks, and Brian Lewis; at the University of Sheffield, thanks to Phil Withington; at Queens University Belfast, thanks to Daniel Roberts, Peter Gray, Maeve McCusker, and of course, Sean Connolly; at the University of Adelaide, thanks to Kym Anderson, Mariah Ehmke, Florine Livat, Vincent Pinilla; at the University of Wollongong, thanks to Clare Anderson, Rosalind Carr, Jessica Hinchy, Ruth Morgan, and Frances Steel; in Bordeaux, thanks to Julie McIntyre, Corinne Marache, Stphanie Lachaud, Mikal Pierre, Jennifer Smith-Maguire, Kathleen Brosnan, and Steve Charters.