A good generalist work, not for specialists . The chronological spread is to ample to be dealt with single handed but this notwithstanding, David Abulafia - a well known authority on Middle Ages and on Mediterranean - accomplished a fine book that is worthy of a wide success. As far as I could notice (my knowledge is restricted and inadequate) in the course of a first, superficial reading, there are some oversight that would deserve a proper adjustment in a future edition. What follows is a short and incomplete list.
- page 420 At the battle of Prevesa there wasn't a single Portuguese ship: 55 galley were Venetian, 49 from Spain and the rest from the Pope and other Italian states;
- page 441 ff. The information on Beatrice Mendes and on Joseph Nasi are recurrently inaccurate: the works of Cecil Roth, as scientific sources, are amply outdated by several other authors, like, for instance, Grunebaum-Ballin (Joseph Naci duc de Naxos Paris, 1968.);
- page 450 The Real carried 400 men of the Tercio di Sardegna and not "400 Sardinian": the soldier of this Tercio were almost all of hiberic origin;
- page 450 Barbarigo was all but foolish. He had to lift his visor in order to give orders and be heard in a moment of emergency;
- page 450 The Uskoks never "succeeded in boxing Venice in a corner of the Adiatic." They were a true nuisance for trade and for political reasons, just like the Somali pirates today, but for the Venetian navy the only real problem was to catch them;
- page 461 - The bertoni story, as far as Venice is concerned, is not correct. To understand why the galley remained in use until the first decades of the XIX century it is essential to know the artilleries of the 1500-1800 era.
In general a very good book that helps in knowing and understanding the civilisations of the Great Sea.
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First Complete History of the Mediterranean Sea
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 January 2018
If you are interested in the Mediterranean, this definitely is a must-have book for you. British historian David Abulafia has written the first complete history of the Mediterranean Sea and its people. Ranging from time when it has been one of the great centers of civilization, so often joining three continents and many diverse societies, till nowadays when the Mediterranean Sea is a frontier dividing the continents from one another. Unlikely there is any other sea in the world with such a huge role in the history of human civilization.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 January 2018
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