Maritime medicine, together with its links to the development of empire, is a burgeoning area of historical interest and enquiry.This book, based on extensive original research, explores the history of health and medicine in maritime and imperial contexts in a key period, reflecting the growing professionalization of medicine at sea from the establishment of the Sick and Hurt Board to the end of the Victorian era.The chapters, written by leading experts in the field, are grouped around two central themes: Royal Naval medical policy, administration and practice; and health and mortality relating to the migration of peoples across the globe, including slavery, emigration and indentured migration.The book will be of interest to a wide range of historians, particularly those working in the fields of maritime history, the history of medicine, and the history of colonialism and imperialism.