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The boundless sea : a human history of the oceans / David Abulafia.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2019]Copyright date: ©2019Description: xxxii, 1050 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color), maps (some color) ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780199934980
  • 0199934983
Subject(s):
Contents:
Part one. The oldest ocean : the Pacific, 176,000 BC-AD 1350 -- Part two. The middle ocean : the Indian Ocean and its neighbours, 4500 BC-AD 1500 -- Part three. The young ocean : the Atlantic, 22,000 BC-AD 1500 -- Part four. Oceans in conversation, AD 1492-1900 -- Part five. The oceans contained, AD 1850-2000 -- Museums with maritime collections -- Further reading.
Summary: "David Abulafia's new book guides readers along the world's greatest bodies of water to reveal their primary role in human history. The main protagonists are the three major oceans-the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian-which together comprise the majority of the earth's water and cover over half of its surface. Over time, as passage through them gradually extended and expanded, linking first islands and then continents, maritime networks developed, evolving from local exploration to lines of regional communication and commerce and eventually to major arteries. These waterways carried goods, plants, livestock, and of course people-free and enslaved-across vast expanses, transforming and ultimately linking irrevocably the economies and cultures of Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 551.46 A166 Available 33111009533387
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

From the beginning of history to the present, a sweep of the world's oceans and seas and how they have shaped the course of civilization.

From the author of the acclaimed The Great Sea, ("Magnificent . . . radiates scholarship and a sense of wonder and fun," Simon Sebag Montefiore; Book of the Year, The Economist), David Abulafia's new book guides readers along the world's greatest bodies of water to reveal their primary role in human history. The main protagonists are the three major oceans--the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian--which together comprise the majority of the earth's water and cover over half of its surface. Over time, as passage through them gradually extended and expanded, linking first islands and then continents, maritime networks developed, evolving from local exploration to lines of regional communication and commerce and eventually to major arteries. These waterways carried goods, plants, livestock, and of course people--free and enslaved--across vast expanses, transforming and ultimately linking irrevocably the economies and cultures of Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Far more than merely another history of exploration, The Boundless Sea shows how maritime networks gradually formed a continuum of interaction and interconnection. Working chronologically, Abulafia moves from the earliest forays of peoples taking hand-hewn canoes into uncharted waters, to the routes taken daily by supertankers in the thousands. History on the grandest scale and scope, written with passion and precision, this is a project few could have undertaken. Abulafia, whom The Atlantic calls "superb writer with a gift for lucid compression and an eye for the telling detail," proves again why he ranks as one of the world's greatest storytellers.

"First published in Great Britain by Allen Lane"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 919-983) and index.

Part one. The oldest ocean : the Pacific, 176,000 BC-AD 1350 -- Part two. The middle ocean : the Indian Ocean and its neighbours, 4500 BC-AD 1500 -- Part three. The young ocean : the Atlantic, 22,000 BC-AD 1500 -- Part four. Oceans in conversation, AD 1492-1900 -- Part five. The oceans contained, AD 1850-2000 -- Museums with maritime collections -- Further reading.

"David Abulafia's new book guides readers along the world's greatest bodies of water to reveal their primary role in human history. The main protagonists are the three major oceans-the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian-which together comprise the majority of the earth's water and cover over half of its surface. Over time, as passage through them gradually extended and expanded, linking first islands and then continents, maritime networks developed, evolving from local exploration to lines of regional communication and commerce and eventually to major arteries. These waterways carried goods, plants, livestock, and of course people-free and enslaved-across vast expanses, transforming and ultimately linking irrevocably the economies and cultures of Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas"-- Provided by publisher.

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