The Mediterranean in History

by David Abulafia (Editor)

In this richly illustrated volume, eight distinguished historians explore the facts, themes, and epochs of the history of the “Great Sea”: the physical setting; the rivalry between Carthaginians, Greeks, and Etruscans for control of sea routes; unification under Rome and the subsequent break up into Western Christendom, Byzantium, and Islam; the Crusades; commerce in medieval times; the Ottoman resurgence; the rivalry of European powers from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries; and the globalization of the region in the last century. The book departs from the traditional view of Mediterranean history with its emphasis on the influences of physical geography. Instead it regards physical context as a staging ground for decisive action with, at center stage, human catalysts at all levels of society—from great kings and emperors to the sailors of medieval Amalfi to the Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492. The authors describe how these groups interacted with one another across the sea, enjoying commercial and political ties as well as sharing ideas and religious beliefs.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, European History, Middle East, Africa, Historical, Art

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 23, 2003

About the author

David Samuel Harvard Abulafia is a British historian with a particular interest in Italy, Spain and the rest of the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
His published works include Frederick II, The Mediterranean in History, Italy in the central Middle Ages, The Discovery of Mankind: Atlantic encounters in the age of Columbus and The Great Sea: a human history of the Mediterranean.

Reviews

[Joyce]

Strange book, hard to tell who the audience is. Gorgeous production and the art is carefully sequenced to match the text... but that text is so unenlightening as to discourage any casual reader. Sample:

This is not the place to examine the substantial historiography of the Sea Peoples since de Rougé started using the term in 1867, nor to retrace the discussion over each of these Sea Peoples, their origin or their later destiny. It is enough to mention that the linking of the Sherden to Sardinia, the Shekels to the Sicilian Siculi and the Teresh to the Etruscans goes back to the beginning of research on the subject, and there is still no conclusion to the debate.

But I'd have to assume that anyone who understood the previous snippet wouldn't need to be reading about it in a coffee-table book. So I'm not sure who the audience is here, but I'm pretty certain it's not me and I'm bailing on the third chapter.

[John Isles · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Abulafia contributes the Introduction and the final chapter on the Mediterranean in the twentieth century; eight other writers describe the physical setting, and relate the history from prehistoric times down to the nineteenth century. We read of what happened in the surrounding lands and of the sea itself: who controlled it, what ships sailed it, and what goods they carried. The volume is well illustrated, but the text lacks the continuity of Abulafia's "The Great Sea" which so far is my favorite history of the Mediterranean.

[João Gilbertino · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Abulafia has brought us an exceptional summary of Mediterranean history through the eyes of various historians, each writing for the age of their passion. The book connects the whole history of the Sea by explaining the relationships across all the Civilizations that ruled part of, and in some cases the entire, Sea.

The Mediterranean was the birthplace of human Civilization, and the only Sea used for trade for a long time. It witnesed the rise and fall of multiple Empires and City States, such as Hutties, Minoans, Phonecians, Romans, the first Islamic Calipahtes, Venice, Genova and the list goes on. The dramatic twists and turns in Mediterranean history are accurately conveyed in the work of Abulafia and his peers, especially the connection that all Civilizations had and still have with one another.

Highly recommend reading this book.

[Richard Dennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incredible illustrations throughout. A real coffee table special, you can dip into it any time. Patently sweeping but relevant. From the early Aegean, ‘…it was an age of pirates, in which raiding and seizing what one required was regarded as a perfectly honourable way to secure a livelihood...' through to 'Livorno was a key free port in the 1600s, created by the Medici, which "drew great profit from the transit trade between East & West'. There were a number of typos which i found baffling? But overall a very decent introduction to what is a vast arc of time, and of a large and significant region, in the story of mankind.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haven't finished it but gave it a good go. This book doesn't quite understand it's audience: it toes the line between an academic text and popular history book which makes it hard to get through without many footnotes or references. Good choice of contributors, but David Abulafia's contrubutions are by far the most readable, and I feel he may have more successful in writing the entire book himself.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief introduction into the interplay and rivalries among the communities occupying the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea as well as into the overall evolution of this region.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive but still relatively approachable history of the various civilisations and cultures that surround and live on the Mediterranean. The central argument is that the Mediterranean served to connect very different societies and enabled interconnectivity. That point could certainly be made by a shorter book, but each chapter is still a very good Mediterranean-centric perspective on a specific period of history.

[Tom Wascoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edited articles from various historians about the role the Mediterrean played in history. Difficult to cover 3000 years in 300 pages except in broad themes which this book does nicely. Readibility of the authors varies but the chapters are nicely tied together by the editor. Learned some things, nothing earthshaking, but put the Mediterrean in context.

[Mark Anthony Bugeja · Rating 5 out of 5]

A refreshingly sweeping view of Mediterranean history.

[keereads · Rating 4 out of 5]

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