Description

As we know, much of human history and many great cultures have emerged from the area around the Mediterranean Sea, cultures such as the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Carthaginans, Phoenecians, Ottomans, and the Arabs. But the history of the Mediterranean has also been written by nations or states such as Venice, France, Spain and others who sought to dominate its trade or to spread their culture and religions in the region.

The author of our highly readable and entertaining core book, The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean, John Julius Norwich, is the author of well-received and fascinating histories of Sicily, Venice and Byzantium. In this ambitious work, he undertakes to cover the history of the entire Mediterranean from ancient Greece to the First World War.

Unlike many other authors, Norwich doesn't focus on the history of a single nation or all of Europe. Instead he covers a geographical region (the Mediterranean) to explore the forces and characters that have shaped its history. Norwich focuses on the rise and fall of civilizations, and the conflicts among them, He follows the conflicts between Greece and Persia, the rise and fall of Alexander the Great , the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and its offspring, Byzantium and the Holy Roman Empire, the spread of Christianity, the conflict between the Eastern and Western Catholic churches, the rise of Islam, and the centuries long struggle between the Christians and Muslims.

This SDG is for those who wish to better understand the complex fabric of history, trade, empires and religions in the Mediterranean, from Greece to World War One. We will also supplement the core book with additional material, and include as an optional supplemental work, The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean, by David Abulafia.

Weekly Topics

Week

Introduction, Chapters: I, II, III: Beginnings; Ancient Greece; Rome: The Republic
Chapters IV, V: Rome: The Early Empire; Islam
Chapters VI, VII: Medieval Italy; The Christian Counter-Attack
Chapters VIII, IX, X: The Two Diasporas; Stupor Mundi; The End of Outremer
Chapters XI, XII: The Close of the Middle Ages; The Fall of Constantinople
Chapters XIII, XIV: The Catholic Kings and the Italian Adventure; The King, the Emperor and the Sultan
Chapters XV, XVI: Barbary and the Barbarossas ; Malta and Cyprus
Chapters XVII, XVIII: Lepanto and the Spanish Conspiracy; Crete and the Peloponnese
Chapters XIX, XX: The Wars of Succession; The Siege of Gibraltar
Chapters XXI, XXII, XXIII: The Young Napoleon; Neapolitan Interlude; Egypt After Napoleon
Chapters XXIV, XXV: The Settlement of Europe; Freedom for Greece
Chapters XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII: Mohammed Ali and North Africa; The Quarantotto; Risorgimento
Chapters XXIX, XXX, XXXI: The Queens and the Carlists; Egypt and the Canal; The Balkan Wars
Chapters XXXII, XXXIII: The Great War; The Peace plus conclusion