The Mediterranean: And the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (Volume II) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "We must go far back in time, to the beginning of a long process of political evolution, before we can achieve a valid perspective on..." (more)
Key Phrases: Don John, North Africa, Don Garcia (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A brilliant translation. . . . Braudel's metahistorical classic [is] one of the few great histories of recent times." -- The Economist

"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

"Braudel ranges with ease over the centuries, displaying an extraordinary erudition of all periods in all of Western Europe's major languages." -- J. H. Plumb, New York Times Book Review

Product 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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Product Details

• Paperback: 725 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (July 16, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520203305
• ISBN-13: 978-0520203303
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #206,577 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kings, Pepper and the Turks: a Time of Transition., March 17, 2001

By	"danielinyaracuy" (San Felipe, Yaracuy Venezuela) - See all my reviews

This is one of the essential books that bring a solid perspective on what is the reality of history, not what commentators or national prides would like it to be.. Braudel is one of the most gifted historians of this century, and few like him can go into the inner workings of the social and economical mechanisms that drive history, really. In this well written volume, excellently translated, one sees clearly where laid the "center" of the Western world in the XVI century: The Mediterranean. Assuredly, the gold of the Americas was coming in; and the North Sea and Baltic trades were going on briskly. Nevertheless, Venice still mattered. The Mediterranean links remained the prize for Spain, the Ottoman empire and whomever had access to the locked sea. Yet, the future was close and the through the XVI there were clear signs of the shifts in power to come. Mr. Braudel work is as comprehensive as it gets. This is a gigantic canvas of the Mediterranean of the time, from its geographical and climatic descriptions, to the way that the Ottoman Empire raised money for its needs. We do not have a single hero in this almost novelistic type of work, everybody gets its turn under the sun. The result is a deeper understanding of where we come from. Even if today you live in Fairbanks, Alaska, you will feel strangely linked to the Venetian Pepper trade of the times.....

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fitting Finish to an Astounding Work, August 15, 2003

By	William Nicholas III (Jackson, MS United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have written a review of the first volume of Braudel's history of the Mediterranean, and here will only say that it is necessary to read this second volume in order to appreciate what Braudel began in the first volume. The second volume is the more typical "history of events", but as Braudel concludes -- and correctly so in my opinion -- the history of events is founded on geography, demographics, and social and economic history. Braudel builds this foundation in the first volume, and the two volumes must be read jointly in order to fully appreciate Braudel's astounding accomplishment.