Customer Reviews

Empires of the Monsoon

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I can't even imagine the prodigious amount of research Mr. Hall has done to recreate this history of the Indian Ocean peoples. For that alone, this book has 5 stars!

The book is divided into three parts - first the history of this region before the arrival of the Europeans, the European period, and the last part deals with the consolidation by Britain of the English lake (what the Indian Ocean was referred to as later). The first two parts are excellent in my opinion.

The book is filled with the most curious facts imaginable and long since forgotten from our history books. The brutality in the name of religion and empire still amazes me.

I highly recommend this book.

I was lucky to pick up this book by chance in a wonderful bookshop in Ottawa, Canada. I had never heard of this book or the author and was just browsing. It was a great find! Mr. Hall has done a prodigious amount of research but this book is the opposite of stuffy and pedantic. It is a tribute to Mr. Hall that even after 500 pages you will be sorry that you have finished. He leaves you wanting more and fortunately he gives you a very nice bibliography which will allow you to satisfy your curiousity. This book moves along at a breakneck pace and sweeps you along from place to place all along the coasts of East Africa and the Horn Of Africa up into the Persian Gulf and along the west coast of India. A few early chapters even take you over to China and Indonesia. There are enough interesting characters to populate a novel by Tolstoy and you will learn a lot of interesting and horrible things that they never taught you about in school. What was done in the name of religion by both Christians and Muslims is very sad. An educated person might not be surprised by the fact of man's inhumanity but I think you will be surprised by the quantity and nature of what went on, and by the sheer joie de vivre of some of these folks! To give you only one "small" example, Vasco da Gama (who was held up to me in school as being a "great explorer") once won a small battle off of the coast of India and when he took some of his foes captive he cut off their ears, noses and hands and then put the poor wretches on a ship and set the ship ablaze. When the fire was over not everyone was dead so da Gama took the survivors and had them hoisted up on the masts of one of his own ships and let his archers have some target practice....This book is full of adventure, greed, hypocrisy and self-delusion. In other words, it is a wonderful mirror held up to life. Enjoy!

This books covers a large are of geography that rarely gets into the mainstream omnibus histories. The region covered is roughly the SE Coast of Africa from the horn to the cape. Others actors come in as the rise of India, Muslim traders, Indonesian immigrants and great empires clashing on the worldwide scene entering, sometimes dominating, and then leaving.

Starting with the earliest denisons of the area such as the tribes of Malay Maqmaqs in Madagascar, to the ancient very advanced Kingdom of Zimbabwe. The first whites to make their brutal appearance as the Portugese, and for a colonial power they are right off the scale in terms of brutality. It is harder to concieve on a more stereotypical version of callous brutality that the Portugese immediately exhibited in their quest for the mythical kingdom of Prester John.

But the cast includes a long tenure of the Caliphs of the coast here largely independent until the latter day Germans, largely with British approval carved them up and added Zanzibar and Uganda to their respective circles of colonial territories. Here is the history of the slave trade writ large, of those countries such as France and the US unashamedly practising its trade and the practical dilemnas of trying to stamp it out by the British.

The narrative ends just prior to WWI when the sailing ships at the mercy of the monsoon trade winds gave way to steam and the last vestiges of local power and non-white power have been eclipsed by colonialism. This is pure narrative history and use of sources is impressive. There is no particular ideological agenda going on here... events are told accurately and with a minimum of moral language... in such a descriptive mode the actions of the actors are judged by you alone.

Were that more such histories could be written about other "forgotten" reaches of the world.

Empires of the Monsoon is clearly a very fascinating book, telling a story that is both compelling in its object and all reaching in its scope. It gives you a very complete sight-seeing of the theme, sometimes going into fine detail.
It is an excellent introduction to the entering of the Indian Ocean into the modern age, a violent and outlandish entering, the moment east met west in a clash of armour and gunship.
It grasps the strangeness and feeling of isolation of the first explorers from the west, the shocked surprise of the peoples of the shores, the total alienation between two alien worlds, whose only point of contact were the Turks and the Mamelukes, foes of many and allies of others.
The immense erudition displayed by the Author and his perfect comprehension of the destinies at stake make this book a compelling reading. It is nevertheless not perfect.
Most surprising to me is the way the Author dispels the real greatness of Afonso de Albuquerque, one of the breed of true conquerors and empire builders.
Actually the stress on Albuquerque's violent ways, his cruelty and ruthlessness, is interesting from an anecdotic point of view, but not from a strategic point of view. There was no want of people going about cutting noses and hands in the 16th century, wherever you went. Mughal's entry in India was clearly much more mass violent then the Portuguese entry, but it was the way that Albuquerque weaved the maritime empire the Portuguese built that really changed everything.
He actually understood that to close the Indian Ocean he needed five points to do it with a minimal commitment of forces, that is those actually available to him: Hormuz (and Aden if possible), Diu, Goa, Ceylon and Malacca. Of these, he conquered three - Hormuz, Goa and Malacca - leaving the way free for the subsequent conquest of the remainder by his successors.
Doing this, he achieved in the Indian Ocean the concept of Mare Clausum, in the benefit of Portugal, a benefit that the Portuguese enjoyed for a century until competitors from Europe came in. He also opened up the sea lanes to China, Japan and Indonesia with the far reaching consequences this would have in the development of the Far East.
Vaco da Gama was the striker of a discovery team who worked for almost one century to open up the maritime way to the Indian Ocean. Albuquerque conceived an empire in such a way that this empire stood against all odds for centuries.

First, I live and sail in East Africa.
I can not get enough history of the place, so I have read them all.

Hall's Empires of the Monsoon is one of the best.
He is a great story teller, has found some absolutely fantastic, unbelievable stories and ties them all together in a way that you can not stop reading. And the stories are captivating.
If you live or visit here, it will change how you see the world. Probably turn you into a screaming bore as you try and recount the horror, folly, disease, and demise of many.
Even if you are not addicted to East Africa, its history, the Tanganyika coast (and some of Kenya) and dhows that still work this beautiful coast, this a great insight into how civilizations (if you dare call it that!) meet and the consequences, all unfolding at the speed of wind.
It is a must for anyone who visits Zanzibar.