Professor Christer Petley
Professor and Director of Admissions and Recruitment, School of Humanities

Professor Christer Petley is a Professor in History at the University of Southampton.
I am a historian with interests in Atlantic history, British imperial history, and Caribbean studies. My work has focused on the histories and legacies of slavery in the Americas, mainly on slave societies in the British Caribbean. My particular area of expertise is the history of colonial settlers and slaveholders, and I have published work on the social and cultural history of the Jamaican planter class.
My research has combined the perspectives and techniques of social, political, and cultural history to explore transatlantic connections between the Caribbean and Europe during the long eighteenth century, examining society and culture in the British West Indies, the British debate over slavery, and the transformations that reshaped the British empire in the period after the American Revolution.
I have published a monograph as well as a number of journal articles, I have recently launched the website Slavery and Revolution, which is an electronic resource for students, teachers, and researchers with interests in slavery and Atlantic history.
I am a member and former Chair of the UK Society for Caribbean Studies and a member of the Association of Caribbean Historians.