A World History of the Seas: From Harbour to Horizon

Description

Offering an introduction to the world's seas as a platform for global exchange and connection, Michael North offers an impressive world history of the seas over more than 3,000 years. Exploring the challenges and dangers of the oceans that humans have struggled with for centuries, he also shows the possibilities and opportunities they have provided from antiquity to the modern day. Written to demonstrate the global connectivity of the seas, but also to highlight regional maritime power during different eras, A World History of the Seas takes sailors, merchants and migrants as the protagonists of these histories and explores how their experiences and perceptions of the seas were consolidated through trade and cultural exchange. Bringing together the various maritime historiographies of the world and underlining their unity, this book shows how the ocean has been a vital and natural space of globalization. Carrying goods, creating alliances, linking continents and conveying culture, the history of the ocean played a central role in creating our modern globalized world.

Michael North is Professor and Chair of Modern History at the University of Greifswald, Germany. He is also an Honorary Doctor of the University of Tartu, Finland, and Visiting Professor at UC Santa Barbara, USA. His publications include Art and Commerce in the Dutch Golden Age (Yale University Press, 1997), The Expansion of Europe, 1250-1500 (Manchester University Press, 2012), and The Baltic (Harvard University Press, 2015).

Accessible, refreshing and bold. Michael North confidently guides his readers through stormy seas and past breezy islands to discover the rich history of fisheries, exploration, migration and trade. The book offers a sweeping narrative that places the world seas at the forefront of human endeavour and cultural mediation. * Peter Borschberg, Dept. of History, National University of Singapore & Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Dept. of History, National Cheng Kung University, Singapore and Taiwan * In this work, Michael North has reminded us that before navigating the world's vast oceans, there was a correspondingly prominent exploration of the seas. These smaller watery expanses served as a vital historical springboard guiding us into the "Age of Sail." Through his astute organization, North has delivered an important book that is equally informative as it is accessible to those outside of this field. * Rainer F. Buschmann, Professor of History, California State University Channel Islands, USA *