Elena A. Schneider

About the Author

Elena A. Schneider is a distinguished historian specializing in the early modern Atlantic world, with a focus on the intersections of war, trade, and slavery in colonial contexts. She earned her PhD from Princeton University and currently teaches at the University of California, San Diego, where she explores the dynamics of empire and resistance in the Caribbean. Schneider's research draws on extensive archival work in Spain, Cuba, and the United States, illuminating the human stories behind global economic forces. Her acclaimed book, The Occupation of Havana: War, Trade, and Slavery in the Atlantic World, published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North Carolina Press, offers a groundbreaking analysis of the 1762 British occupation of Havana and its lasting impacts on transatlantic slavery and trade networks. Through her meticulous scholarship, Schneider challenges traditional narratives of colonial power, emphasizing the agency of enslaved and free people of African descent in shaping the Atlantic world.