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Review
"Because Braudel's Mediterranean can be read on several levels simultaneously, it has an importance and a range that extend far beyond any one historical category." -- J. H. Elliott, New York Review of Books
Book Description
The focus of Fernand Braudel's great work is the Mediterranean world in the second half of the sixteenth century, but Braudel ranges back in history to the world of Odysseus and forward to our time, moving out from the Mediterranean area to the New World and other destinations of Mediterranean traders. Braudel's scope embraces the natural world and material life, economics, demography, politics, and diplomacy.
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The five peninsulas of the inland sea are very similar. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
The five peninsulas of the inland sea are very similar. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
How billions in gold bankrupted Spain,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II: Volume I (Paperback)
In the 1500s, billions in gold and silver poured into Spanish coffers from the new world; yet, a century later Spain was bankrupt. What happened?Fernand Braudel has woven together a fascinating tour around the Mediterranean of the 1500s, explaining the rise of the Ottoman Empire, how Egyptians made iced drinks, why Algiers became the capital of piracy, how the banking system created the first transcontinental roads, and much more. This book immerses the reader in a new world full of rich details and suprising connections. Spain? An extravagant Star-Wars size naval fleet built with timbers imported from Scandinavia; nonexistent accounting practices, the personal greed of Spanish nobility helped along by canny bankers in the Netherlands--the wealth poured out as fast as it had come.
5.0 out of 5 stars
An education.......,
By nto62 (Corona, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II: Volume I (Paperback)
I have been keenly interested in world history for nearly 20 years. I read, on average, 30 non-fiction historical accounts per annum. With rare exception, I have always felt up to the task of both completion and comprehension. Braudel is an entirely different animal. What Braudel has presented in the form of 16th-century Mediterranean history is formidable, innovative, and exhausting. As a layman, a mere history buff, I will be the first to admit that his interwoven narrative, his elucidation of historical strata, his dissection of the Mediterranean and it's people required a level of thought and concentration perhaps unnecessary with the vast majority of contemporary written history available. His is not a mere linear schedule of cause and effect, but a finely crafted history of regional parallels which render the methodology as thought provoking as the content. Fully one-fourth of the book is devoted to economics in such painstaking detail that, while the specialist may revel, the layman may grow foggy, uninterested, and, unfortunately, bored. But, this does not detract from the overall value of Braudel's effort. The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World is a singular achievement in written history which offers the reader a vantage point that I have yet to find elsewhere. 5 stars.
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Amazing and Exhausting Opus,
By
This review is from: The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II: Volume I (Paperback)
Braudel's text on the Mediterranean is considered one of the contemporary classics of historical writing, and I can see why. It sets out to convey a total history of the Mediterranean world in the latter half of the 16th century, but ranges over so much more territory in order to achieve this objective. Just as Jared Diamond builds a foundation on geography, climate, and local flora and fauna in _Guns, Germs , and Steel_, so does Braudel begin his history. However, he does not stop there, and moves on to cover social and economic history, and, in the second volume, deals with the more standard "history of events" typical of most historical literature. Do not skip the second volume, as the tapestry Braudel weaves is not complete without it. The text is very detailed, too detailed at points, but I believe this gives the reader confidence in the authority of the writer. Clearly Braudel has done exhaustive research. You, too, will be exhausted by the time you finish this magnum opus.
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