The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, Volume 2
Fernand Braudel
Translated from the French by Sian Reynolds
700 pages, including index
published in 1966

Sometimes physical realities enforce an awkward split when books get too big and have to be split over several volumes, as is the case with The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, which is divided into three parts, of which the middle is split between volume 1 and volume 2.

Volume 2 therefore starts somewhat in media res, with the second part of "Collective Destinies and General Trends", the middle layer of Braudel's total history, inbetween the almost unchanging natural Mediterranean, the stage perhaps on which human history takes place but having its own history as well and undoubtly not just influencing but even shaping human history and the traditional history of events, chronological history with which volume 2 ends. In volume 1 Braudel looked in this middle layer at the economies of the Mediterranean, the influence of precious metals had on the Mediterranean and the transport and commerce within it as well as with regions outside it. He picks up the thread in volume 2 with descriptions of the empires, societies and civilisations within the Mediterranean world, as well as the way in which these wage war.

Of the two volumes, this is the easier to read. The treatise of the geological relaties of the Mediterranean in part I were interesting but hard to get through when you're reading it in on the metro. The same goes for the sociological themes of part II. In contrast, the much more conventional history of part III, which makes up the bulk of this second volume, is much easier to read and hence it's much easier to stay focused. In retrospect, I should've read this at home, over the course of several weekends, to give it the attention it deserves.

On the whole this has been an excellent, rich history, far more advanced than most of the history books I've read before and since and I think I'll need to reread it to make more sense of it. Braudel presupposes a great deal of historical knowledge on the part of his readers, which for somebody like me, less familiar with the Mediterranean and its history, makes for hard goings at times. When I'll reread it I think I'll do it with one eye firmly on Wikipedia to clear up any references I don't recognise.

One last word about the translation: on the whole I prefer to read any book in the language its author wrote in it, but since my French is not quite up to the task here I was pretty pleased by the translation provided by Sian Reynolds. It read naturally, with none of the stiltedness or awkward phrasings you may find in some works where the translator is less than certain in their mastery of either the original language or the languege they're translating to, or both.

Read more about:
Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean, history, book review