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A review by jdowens87
Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580 by Roger Crowley
3.0
I got into this book a lot more than I thought I would. I've always been interested in that period between the gradual fade away of the medieval era and the dawn of colonialism but my attentions in that regard have generally been limited to the actions of Western Europe. Reading Empires of the seas made me feel like I had been listening to a song with only one headphone in. I have been missing so much background information on this period that I was truly surprised to see how everything was connected. I was surprised to see how far reaching the impact of the battle over the Mediterranean was to events in Eastern and Western Europe.
One of the most surprising parts of this book, for me at least, was finding out that both Christians and Muslims relied heavily on slaves and slave labor to man their galleys and serve as a source of money. In fact, the slave trade in the Mediterranean seemed to be one of the primary catalysts of this prolonged conflict, with Muslims enslaving hundreds of thousands of Europeans and vice versa. I knew that slavery existed before colonial times obviously but I didn’t know it was to this extent and how reliant Mediterranean economies were on human trade. Overall, Empires of the Sea gave me just what I like out of my history books, military conflict embedded within a deeper social, economic, political and religious history.
One of the most surprising parts of this book, for me at least, was finding out that both Christians and Muslims relied heavily on slaves and slave labor to man their galleys and serve as a source of money. In fact, the slave trade in the Mediterranean seemed to be one of the primary catalysts of this prolonged conflict, with Muslims enslaving hundreds of thousands of Europeans and vice versa. I knew that slavery existed before colonial times obviously but I didn’t know it was to this extent and how reliant Mediterranean economies were on human trade. Overall, Empires of the Sea gave me just what I like out of my history books, military conflict embedded within a deeper social, economic, political and religious history.