Abstract
With 75 essays (33 in English, 42 in French) and over 1,000 pages, this book is literally and figuratively a weighty tome. Indeed, it is one in a series of four weighty tomes, which together explore how the sea and maritime activities have shaped human history from the ancient to the modern world. This volume and the series as a whole are a remarkable achievement by the Oceanides project, which began in 2012. The individual essays are each relatively short, most of them drawing heavily on secondary literature, though several also make use of primary sources and some are based mainly on new research. The list of contributors is a roll call of historians at the forefront of scholarship on the area that they summarise here, and the volume provides up-to-date overviews of each topic, which will be especially valuable to students or researchers looking for an introduction to that subject. Moreover, many of the authors advance distinctive interpretations based on their own work, which (though too many and varied to discuss in detail here) will undoubtedly inspire further debate and research in the future.
The chapters range widely in their discussion of the sea and its place in human societies from the late fifteenth century to the early nineteenth. In the first part of the book, ‘La Réussite par la Mer’ (‘Success by Sea’), there are chapters surveying maritime activity in particular regions of the world, the systems of ports which sustained and benefited from this activity, some of the specific fisheries, commodities and trade routes which were essential drivers of maritime growth, and finally the communities of traders and seafarers who were involved in these developments. The second part, ‘La Puissance Maritime’ (‘Maritime Power’), again presents essays focusing on particular regions, but this time examining how states and empires around the world competed for control over maritime areas and resources. The final section, ‘Les Interactions entre Marine, Économie et Société’ (‘Interactions between Seafaring, Economy, and Society’), looks at the role of the sea in the development of political ideologies, technologies, economic systems and naval and commercial labour markets and operations. The introduction and conclusion to this volume, written by Gérard le Bouëdec, offer a masterful synthesis highlighting the transformations that characterised this ‘first era of globalisation’ (p.5), including maritime and economic growth, the pivotal role played by port communities, and increasing state power over the sea.
The strength of this volume lies not just in the wealth of empirical research presented, or in its extensive coverage, but in the global perspective that it represents (reflecting trends in wider scholarship, maritime and otherwise). Some chapters discuss specific national examples from around the world, but individual authors often take a comparative international approach to explore their specific themes. While most of the attention is given to Europe and its empires, there is also a considerable amount of discussion of maritime activity around the Atlantic and Indian Oceans – and not just from a European imperial viewpoint, which has dominated much previous research. Even chapters discussing more ‘traditional’ topics like the rise of naval power in Europe benefit from this broader perspective. Overall, this volume underlines the importance of international scholarly cooperation in order to develop a truly comprehensive understanding of the past, and of the sea’s place within it. The book has contributions from historians based in every inhabited continent.
This global approach is explored further in the general introduction and conclusion for the series, written by Christian Buchet and included in each volume. Buchet sets out the key question of the Oceanides project, whether the sea was the ‘differentiating factor in world history’ (xxiii), and, after a survey of the series’ contents, unsurprisingly confirms that it was. The sea, Buchet contends, acted as ‘the accelerator of political and economic development . . . the driver of predominance and expansion . . . the driver of History’ (p.1011). He argues that using the sea ‘as the instrument through which to analyse and understand’ the past has great potential, by understanding ‘the sea not as a separation but a bridge . . . This synergy, these dynamics, this connectivity are the very essence of the sea’ (p.1034).
Similar arguments about the importance of seaborne connections have been made before, but they are definitely worth repeating, and Buchet goes further, suggesting a new periodization of history. First came the era of ‘Mediterraneans’, by which he means ‘sea corridor[s] articulated around several interconnected basins’ (p.1035), encompassing both the Mediterranean and other regions with these characteristics, like the Indian Ocean. This was followed by the era of the Atlantic, roughly coterminous with the contents of this volume, when interregional interactions intensified but activities in that ocean dominated. Finally, we now find ourselves in a ‘New Oceanic’ era ‘more than ever founded on flexibility and connections . . . it is the ocean, the global ocean, that has brought the modern world to life’ (p.1038). Whether historians (even maritime-minded ones) will embrace this periodisation remains to be seen, but it is certainly an intriguing challenge to more well-worn approaches. Buchet finishes his conclusion with a note of warning: ‘the sea is the future of the Earth, and we have no spare oceans’ (p.1042). A global and collective, rather than national and competitive, approach is needed to successfully manage and preserve its riches.
I doubt that many people will read this book cover-to-cover, but it will provide an invaluable introduction and work of reference for those wishing to learn more about the development of the maritime world throughout the early modern period, whether they are newcomers to or long sojourners in this scholarly field. This book and the series to which it belongs stand as a testament to the vibrant community of scholars working on maritime history, and to the intellectual vitality and contemporary resonance of this subject.