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tenaciousz's review against another edition
4.0
My first exposure to Braudel and the Annales School was in a historiography class I took for my history degree. It was an excerpt from THE MEDITERRANEAN and it left quite the impression on me. Let's do history without the "big men", without the wars and battles, and without a narrative recursively serving the needs of one economic worldview or another. Instead, let's start literally from the ground up.
THE STRUCTURES OF EVERYDAY LIFE is not as comprehensive as THE MEDITERRANEAN seems (I haven't finished the latter yet), and I think it made it that much more enjoyable to me. Braudel sets out in this first volume of three to discuss the formulative centuries before the Industrial Revolution. He focuses on everyday things, from food to furniture, who used them, how they used them, who used what, and so forth. He even adds a comparative aspect as he includes civilizations outside of Europe such as China, the New World, and Islam.
The book was fascinating, much more so than one would expect from a history book literally on the mundane. But Braudel (and/or the English translator Sian Reynolds) writes prose engaging enough and convincing enough to draw the reader in to see just why the change in food types from 15th to 18 century France matters in the scheme of modernity. The author also utilizes a dense and diverse amount of quantitative data, as well as interesting qualitative bits such as the foregrounds of paintings and the diaries of world travelers. The result is a work of history that is both uncharacteristically empirical and creative, a classic work of the Annales.
The book does a have a few flaws, most notably its datedness. Braudel, as forward thinking as he was in the 1960s to even include non-European countries for comparision, does not treat them equally enough (this could be due to limited access to sources and his limited expertise in the areas like China). Braudel uses terminalogy that is not PC today, such as Tartar and Black Africa, and he seems to use Turks and Islam interchangeably.
The book does lag a bit sometimes, often in sections were Braudel unleashes a flurry of statistics about seemingly every city in France or other European country. It's obvious Braudel has a special connection with his native country, and one can't blame him for using the data most readily available to him, but at times he seriously belabors the point he's trying to illustrate.
In conclusion, the book is an excellent read, and a great way to be introduced to the French Annales School and its master, Fernand Braudel. By the end, the reader will see the world they live in past, present, and future, in a new light. The little things matter, and reveal an incredible amount about culture an society.
THE STRUCTURES OF EVERYDAY LIFE is not as comprehensive as THE MEDITERRANEAN seems (I haven't finished the latter yet), and I think it made it that much more enjoyable to me. Braudel sets out in this first volume of three to discuss the formulative centuries before the Industrial Revolution. He focuses on everyday things, from food to furniture, who used them, how they used them, who used what, and so forth. He even adds a comparative aspect as he includes civilizations outside of Europe such as China, the New World, and Islam.
The book was fascinating, much more so than one would expect from a history book literally on the mundane. But Braudel (and/or the English translator Sian Reynolds) writes prose engaging enough and convincing enough to draw the reader in to see just why the change in food types from 15th to 18 century France matters in the scheme of modernity. The author also utilizes a dense and diverse amount of quantitative data, as well as interesting qualitative bits such as the foregrounds of paintings and the diaries of world travelers. The result is a work of history that is both uncharacteristically empirical and creative, a classic work of the Annales.
The book does a have a few flaws, most notably its datedness. Braudel, as forward thinking as he was in the 1960s to even include non-European countries for comparision, does not treat them equally enough (this could be due to limited access to sources and his limited expertise in the areas like China). Braudel uses terminalogy that is not PC today, such as Tartar and Black Africa, and he seems to use Turks and Islam interchangeably.
The book does lag a bit sometimes, often in sections were Braudel unleashes a flurry of statistics about seemingly every city in France or other European country. It's obvious Braudel has a special connection with his native country, and one can't blame him for using the data most readily available to him, but at times he seriously belabors the point he's trying to illustrate.
In conclusion, the book is an excellent read, and a great way to be introduced to the French Annales School and its master, Fernand Braudel. By the end, the reader will see the world they live in past, present, and future, in a new light. The little things matter, and reveal an incredible amount about culture an society.
rebeccacider's review against another edition
Abandoned. A fascinating, if dense book, but I was concerned that I was filling my head with dated and wrong ideas and nothing to counter them. Unfortunately writing grand unifying accounts of history is out of vogue unless you're Jared Diamond... and probably for a reason.
saulihavu's review against another edition
5.0
By far the most impressive series of books, of any genre, I've ever read.
hrynkiw's review against another edition
4.0
Translated from the French, so has information and illustrations little-seen in english books. Good sections on food, particularly grains, grain processing, and bread -- which is my primary reason for reading it. Each topic (e.g. wheat) is covered over the course of several pages, not just a paragraph or two.
Recommended.
Recommended.
meowzhao's review against another edition
180323- 喜欢坏了！Exactly what I wanted it to be.
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