Back to Results
Cover image of The Mediterranean World
Cover image of The Mediterranean World
Share this Title:

The Mediterranean World

From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Napoleon

Monique O'Connell and Eric R Dursteler

Publication Date
Binding Type

An interdisciplinary approach to the Mediterranean’s rich, multicultural history.

Located at the intersection of Asia, Africa, and Europe, the Mediterranean has connected societies for millennia, creating a shared space of intense economic, cultural, and political interaction. Greek temples in Sicily, Roman ruins in North Africa, and Ottoman fortifications in Greece serve as reminders that the Mediterranean has no fixed national boundaries or stable ethnic and religious identities.

In The Mediterranean World, Monique O’Connell and Eric R Dursteler examine the history of this contested region...

An interdisciplinary approach to the Mediterranean’s rich, multicultural history.

Located at the intersection of Asia, Africa, and Europe, the Mediterranean has connected societies for millennia, creating a shared space of intense economic, cultural, and political interaction. Greek temples in Sicily, Roman ruins in North Africa, and Ottoman fortifications in Greece serve as reminders that the Mediterranean has no fixed national boundaries or stable ethnic and religious identities.

In The Mediterranean World, Monique O’Connell and Eric R Dursteler examine the history of this contested region from the medieval to the early modern era, beginning with the fall of Rome around 500 CE and closing with Napoleon’s attempted conquest of Egypt in 1798. Arguing convincingly that the Mediterranean should be studied as a singular unit, the authors explore the centuries when no lone power dominated the Mediterranean Sea and invaders brought their own unique languages and cultures to the region.

Structured around four interlocking themes—mobility, state development, commerce, and frontiers—this beautifully illustrated book brings new dimensions to the concepts of Mediterranean nationality and identity.

Reviews

Reviews

... handy...

O'Connell & Dursteler's Mediterranean World is a judicious blend of narrative and thematic discussion. The themes and the period covered are well-chosen. The Middle Ages and early modernity fully show the ways in which Mediterranean history has combined political fragmentation with the blurring of cultural boundaries. This book provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the best of recent scholarship.

A magisterial book. The breadth of the narrative, its ability to digest and make sensible a vast interdisciplinary literature, and its original structure will make this book the standard introduction to the history of the Mediterranean for years to come.

Finally, a Mediterranean history that both students and faculty will savor. O’Connell and Dursteler’s ability to weave historiographical depth and engaging vignettes into a lucid chronological narrative makes this textbook an excellent introduction to a world region and a phase of our entangled global past that are still deeply misrepresented.

See All Reviews
About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
7
x
10
Pages
352
ISBN
9781421419015
Illustration Description
68 b&w photos, 4 b&w illus.
Table of Contents

List of Maps
Preface
A Note on Names and Dates
Introduction
Historians and the Sea
Approaches and Themes
1. The Waning of the Roman Mediterranean
Mare Nostrum
A Christian Mediterranean
An Eastern and a Western

List of Maps
Preface
A Note on Names and Dates
Introduction
Historians and the Sea
Approaches and Themes
1. The Waning of the Roman Mediterranean
Mare Nostrum
A Christian Mediterranean
An Eastern and a Western Mediterranean
2. Forging New Traditions
An Arabic Mediterranean
Between New Imperial Capitals
Climate Change and Collapse
3. Early Medieval Economies and Cultures
Shifting Economies and Merchant Networks
Cultural Capitals and Intellectual Exchange
Religious Life
Religious Institutions
The Rise of Religious Orthodoxies
4. Reshaping Political Communities
New Contenders for Power from the Peripheries
Christian Ideas of Holy War and the First Crusade
A Second Wave of Holy Warriors in the East and West
New Monarchs, New States
5. Crossing Boundaries
Individual and Community Lives on the Frontier
Conversion, Persuasion, and Inquisition
Mobility, Accommodation, and Acculturation
Movement of Ideas and Intellectuals
Intellectual and Artistic Cultures at Court
6. Commerce, Conquest, and Travel
Commercial Exchange and Innovations
Trade, Colonization, and the State
Competition, Conflict, and Crusade
Mobility of People
The Bubonic Plague
7. Crisis and Consolidation in State and Society
New Contenders for Power
The Fourteenth-Century Crisis
Civil Wars and Centralizing Regimes
Transitions in the Eastern Mediterranean
8. The Renaissance Bazaar
Networks of Exchange and Material Culture
Intellectual Discourses
Patronage and Power
9. Mediterranean Empires
The Ottoman Empire
Habsburg Spain
Venice
Common Friends, Common Enemies
10. Life on the Frontier
Defining and Mapping Frontiers
Migration and Movement
Mediterranean Slavery
Corsairs
Renegades
Religion and Life on the Frontier
11. Mediterranean Transformations
The Environment
Demography
Disease and Famine
Economy
Travel and Literature
12. The Waning of the Early Modern Mediterranean
Russia
Napoleon
Corsairs and Slaves
Collecting the Mediterranean
Guide to Resources
Index

Author Bios
Monique O'Connell
Featured Contributor

Monique O'Connell

Monique O’Connell is an associate professor of history at Wake Forest University and the author of Men of Empire: Power and Negotiation in Venice’s Maritime State.