Login to:
Update your bookshelf
Share on Facebook
Read friends reviews
And much more...
The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean (Vintage)
This lively and dramatic book brings roaring to life the grand sweep of 5,000 years of history in the cradle of civilization.A wonderfullyillustrated...more
Browse 1000's of challenging book quizzes
Reviews
Showing 10 of 11 reviews
Yes (0) 
No (0)
A comprehensive history of the Mediterranean sea from the ancient times to the Great War. The best book of Norwich narrates the story of the most important sea for a long time. Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Arabs, Spanish, Franks, Turks (and English)...fought for controlling her.
A very entertaining history narrative. If you are just looking to read an overview of history around the Mediterranean, this is probably a five star selection. It is very readable, and the author's asides keep it from becoming dry. I personally was hoping for a bit more analysis, although that probably would have greatly lengthened the book.
Only part way through, and I guess I could be reading it rather than playing on Facebook... But it is a really interesting organising principle for understanding the civilisations which have been based around what the Romans called Mare Nostrum (our sea). Up to the Holy Roman Empire at this point, but I've learnt a lot of stuff I probably should have known, but didn't. And Norwich is certainly...more
Sometimes fitting history around an ocean reads a little awkwardly, however once you get past the scene setting I found this a great source of info on events that I had heard of but didn't know anything about. Such as the battle of Lepanto, the siege of Gibraltar, the Greek independence war etc.
Loading favorites...
Similar books
Loading similar authors...
Loading readers of this book...
Loading quiz for this book...
Editions
