Trade and Cultural Exchange in the Early Modern Mediterranean

It is 60 years since the publication in 1949 of the original French version of Fernand Braudel's 'The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II' revolutionised the study of Mediterranean history. The maritime history of the Mediterranean from the 16th to the 18th centuries has been - as one might expect - largely, though not entirely, the preserve of historians from the lands bordering the sea. Much of their work has not been readily accessible to English-speaking audiences. Now, 60 years 'after Braudel', the present volume brings together work by specialists from Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Malta and Algeria, as well as from the United States and the United Kingdom. _x000D_Topics covered in the book include new perspectives on the mercantile 'Northern Invasion' of the Mediterranean by English ships in the early 17th century; Britain and North Africa in the late Stuart period; the import trade in thoroughbred horses from the Arab world; the naval history of the north African 'regencies'; the various faces of piracy, warfare and maritime slavery in the Mediterranean; plague as a determinant of maritime trade; the rise of Greek commercial shipping in both the eastern and western halves of the sea; and the the central role of Malta in the Mediterranean._x000D_The emphasis of the book, therefore, is on the sea itself, the ships which travelled it, and the men who sailed them. The new perspectives here offered are both multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary, and reflect the state of the art in current research, much of which has not been previously available in English. The book aims to open up the subject to English-speaking readers, in particular to those interested in maritime history; the history of the early modern world; and the historiographical legacy of Fernand Braudel.