For over four thousand years the Mediterranean was the centre of Western civilization: the meeting-place of Europe, Asia and Africa, the battleground of states and nations, and the focus of three major religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. David Abulafia, acclaimed scholar of the Mediterranean and winner of the 2020 Wolfson History Prize, has brought together a distinguished team of specialists to tell the enthralling and complex story of this influential region.

This sweeping account of the Mediterranean ranges from prehistoric traders, the struggle between Phoenicians, Greeks and Etruscans ending in Roman victory, to the Christian and Islamic powers, domination by England and France, and finally the twentieth century, transformed by war and mass tourism. Incorporating recent research, from linguistics to underwater archaeology, and a fresh emphasis on the role of the individual in shaping events, this is a compelling history of Mediterranean civilizations and the sea that connected them.