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Tag Archives: Mediterranean
City of Fortune
City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas© 2012 Roger Crowley464 pages In the north of the Adriatic grew a city built not on land, but upon the water — whose fortune was earned in transit, by running the ships … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged Eastern Rome/Byzantine, Europe, Italy, Medieval, Mediterranean, naval
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In God’s Path
In God’s Path: the Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire© 2015 Robert Hoyland303 pages A Roman author referred to the Roman and Persian empires as the two eyes of the world — but they didn’t see the … Continue reading
Posted in history, Reviews
Tagged Arabia, Central Asia, Eastern Rome/Byzantine, history, Islam, Mediterranean, Middle East, Persia-Iran
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Lost to the West
Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire that Rescued Western Civilization© 2009 Lars Brownsworth329 pages The Roman empire not not fade quietly into history in 474, when a Gothic warlord decided to run the city of Rome directly instead through a … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged classical world, Eastern Rome/Byzantine, Mediterranean, Middle East, Near East, Persia, Persia-Iran, Rome, Turkey
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The Egyptians
The Egyptians© 1997 Barbara Watterson368 pages “We stand where Caesar and Napoleon stood, and remember that fifty centuries look down upon us; where the Father of History came four hundred years before Caesar, and heard the tales that were to … Continue reading
Posted in history, Reviews
Tagged Africa, ancient world, classical world, Eastern Rome/Byzantine, Egypt, history, Islam, Mediterranean, Middle East, Near East, survey
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Ornament of the World
Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain© 2002 Maria Rose Menocal315 pages Ornament of the World is the story of a unique civilization in medieval Europe, one … Continue reading
Posted in history, Reviews
Tagged Christianity, history, Islam, Medieval, Mediterranean, religion, Spain
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The Spice Route
The Spice Route© 2005 John Keay308 pages Spock was right. Having a thing is often not as pleasant as wanting a thing. It is not logical, but it is often true. Such was the case with the spice trade, which so … Continue reading
Posted in history, Reviews
Tagged age of discovery, Asia, commerce, globalization, history, John Keay, Mediterranean, Middle East, Near East, Persia, Persia-Iran, Rome
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The Great Cities in History
The Great Cities in History© 2009 ed. John Julius Norwich302 pages The Great Cities in History takes readers on a literary world tour, traveling through space and time to visit the greatest political bodies in history. Civilization is nothing … Continue reading
Posted in history, Reviews
Tagged Asia, cities, commerce, history, Mediterranean, Middle East, Near East, NYC
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