Puertas en el mar. Islas Africanas Atlánticas en el antiguo régimen.

The book "Doors in the Sea: Atlantic African Islands in the Old Regime" analyzes the role of the archipelagos of Madeira, Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, Sao Tome and Principe, and the island of St. Helena in the connections between Europe, Africa, and America during the modern era. It uses comparative history and relies on documentation from twenty-five archives to study the reality of these territories from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The article focuses on the role of the Canary Islands in Hispano-African relations during the 17th and 18th centuries, highlighting their commercial development and their importance as ports in the new global economic system. It also analyzes the introduction of the peninsular administrative model and the social structure of the islands, as well as the mixture of European, African, and indigenous elements in Canary society. In addition, it studies island imaginaries and the creation of marine ex-votos in the territories under study. In summary, the article offers a fundamental historiographical contribution to understanding the African Atlantic islands and their role in Atlantic history. [Extracted from the article]