Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, Vol. I: The Structure of Everyday Life (Civilization & Capitalism, 15th-18th Century) [Paperback]

Fernand Braudel (Author), Sian Reynold (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520081145 | ISBN-13: 978-0520081147 | Publication Date: December 23, 1992

By examining in detail the material life of pre-industrial peoples around the world, Fernand Braudel significantly changed the way historians view their subject. Volume I describes food and drink, dress and housing, demography and family structure, energy and technology, money and credit, and the growth of towns.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Originally published in the early 1980s, Civilization traces the social and economic history of the world from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution, although his primary focus is Europe. Braudel skims over politics, wars, etc., in favor of examining life at the grass roots: food, drink, clothing, housing, town markets, money, credit, technology, the growth of towns and cities, and more. The history is fascinating and made even more interesting by period prints and drawings.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"The noted French historian Fernand Braudel . . . argues convincingly that a meaningful understanding of history can be gained from studying how people ate and dressed, where they lived, and how they obtained necessities and luxuries. . . . Braudel succeeds in presenting a thorough picture of how the great trends of history were created by their smallest parts." -- Elizabeth Grossman, Saturday Review

"To read Braudel on material life is to experience the past anew." -- Paul Robinson, New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 623 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (December 23, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520081145
• ISBN-13: 978-0520081147
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #157,875 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Encyclopedic Examination of the Seemingly Mundane, June 11, 2003

By 

Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, Vol. I: The Structure of Everyday Life (Civilization & Capitalism, 15th-18th Century) (Paperback)

Fernand Braudel is probably the most distinguished historian associated with the Annales School founded by Lucien Febvre and Marc Bloch. This Annales method attempted to revamp historical inquiry by enlarging the scope of analysis to include disparate places and through different times. Annalists were not content to research political institutions; they wanted to delve deeper into the past, to look at social and economic factors in order to reach a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of humanity. In order to be so inclusive, the Annalists looked at historical forces over great arcs of time, recognizing that many human factors change slowly and are not capable of discovery in snapshots of time. The title of this book, "The Structures of Everyday Life: Civilization and Capitalism, 15th to the 18th Century" captures well these two central tenets of the Annales School. "The Structures of Everyday Life" is the first volume in a three volume series.

When Braudel refers to everyday life, he means it in the strictest sense of the word. The topics covered in this encyclopedic volume are seemingly banal because they constitute the backgrounds of our lives: corn, wheat, rice, clothing, buildings, money, and other commonplace items that we take for granted in our day to day existence. Other sections deal with discerning the population of the world in a time when census records were crude or nonexistent, the development of heavy industry and its effect on the world, diseases, and shipping. The emphasis here is on economics and how the growth (or lack of) economies increases or decreases the growth of a society and how that society or region waxed or waned in prominence.

Much of the time, the greatness of Braudel's book is in a detail, or a turn of a phrase. For example, the author concludes that the massive pyramid structures and immense jungle cities of the Mesoamerican cultures resulted not from huge markets or an intrinsic need to construct enormous edifices. Instead, he traces their societal structure to agriculture, specifically the reliance on maize as the staple crop. In the warm climates of Central America, corn does not take much work to plant or maintain. This left the indigenous populations with plenty of time on their hands to build monuments and participate in elaborate religious rituals.

"Structures of Everyday Life" appears to be a huge book, and it is, but there are so many illustrations, maps, and charts that it does not take nearly as long to get through it as one might think. I read somewhere that Braudel traveled and worked abroad in places where he could obtain copies of primary historical documents, whether they were paintings, letters, financial statements, or other relevant documents. He gathered these by the thousands over the years and used them as the basis for his wide-ranging researches. You simply must admire a historian who notices someone picking food out of a bowl with his fingers and then compares this to another painting some years later where the figures are using utensils. Most people just do not think to look at things like this.

Braudel's book is a valuable contribution to historical studies, but I don't think I will read the other two volumes in the series. The amount of information in this volume is so overwhelming that I don't think I could assimilate the vast amount of facts in the other two books. As far as "Structures of Everyday Life" go, even reading one or two chapters is enough to get the gist of what Braudel is trying to say. Reading the whole thing is like reading an encyclopedia; it is fascinating but difficult.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes History come alive!!, October 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, Vol. I: The Structure of Everyday Life (Civilization & Capitalism, 15th-18th Century) (Paperback)

A full-scale examination, extremely well documented, of the inner forces which have driven the industrial revolution and the capital age, and place them in the global evolution. A must read book to people who think that everything have started in the 19th century. Two remarks: very rich (too?) you must be a attentive reader. A more global approach has to be written with the latest discovery in Asia.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving in for a closer view., April 13, 2005

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, Vol. I: The Structure of Everyday Life (Civilization & Capitalism, 15th-18th Century) (Paperback)

The Structures of Everyday Life is a fascinating read which explores a side of history often left out of the books focusing on kings and battles. In 8 major chapters he reviews the history of commonplace items such as grains, fashion, technology, money and innovation. His central thesis is that the history of material life is composed of the history of these basic items, and that an economic view of the past cannot be established without pausing here.

Braudel is a wonderful writer. His clarity and sharp analysis is aided by the extremely clean translation assistance provided by Sian Reynolds. He makes a clear distinction between fact and interpretation, and is very successful at developing his thesis and not losing the reader in the minutae of the fascinating detail he exposes.

Although the book is long, the pacing in the chapters is nearly perfect. Each subject is explored at a length that left me wanting to read more instead of feeling over-saturated. I did not have the experience of reading an encyclopedia or reference book, but found there to be a definite flow and build in the disparate subjects.

The book is well-illustrated, and the notes are clear. The only additional thing that I could have wished for would have been a bibliography if I wished further information about a particular chapter.

In short, an entertaining and informative read recommended for a wide range of readers. I would not hesitate to give this book as a gift to the armchair historian. I will be reading the second volume shortly.