Tuesday, February 11, 2014

The Sea and Civilization by Lincoln Paine

This is another review done as a member of Amazon Vine, so I'm posting a description of the book with a direct link to my review on Amazon.

book cover
The Sea and Civilization
by Lincoln Paine


ISBN-13: 9781400044092
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Knopf
Released: October 29, 2013

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
A monumental retelling of world history through the lens of maritime enterprise, revealing in breathtaking depth how people first came into contact with one another by ocean and river, lake and stream, and how goods, languages, religions, and entire cultures spread across and along the world’s waterways, bringing together civilizations and defining what makes us most human.

Lincoln Paine takes us back to the origins of long-distance migration by sea with our ancestors’ first forays from Africa and Eurasia to Australia and the Americas. He demonstrates the critical role of maritime trade to the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley. He reacquaints us with the great seafaring cultures of antiquity like those of the Phoenicians and Greeks, as well as those of India and Southeast and East Asia, who parlayed their navigational skills, shipbuilding techniques, and commercial acumen to establish thriving overseas colonies and trade routes in the centuries leading up to the age of European expansion. And finally, his narrative traces how commercial shipping and naval warfare brought about the enormous demographic, cultural, and political changes that have globalized the world throughout the post–Cold War era.

My Review: Link to my review on Amazon.

2 comments:

Diane said...

This could be a very interesting book, but I guess that one would have to be in the right 'space' (or doing some serious research). Thanks for the review, Debbie.

Debbie said...

You're welcome. Thank you for taking the time to post a comment.