Hormuz

In 2026, Hormuz became one of the most spoken words in the world. The strait that carries a fifth of the worlds oil was closed for the first time in recorded history, and the global economy held its breath. Yet almost nothing that happened was new. In this brief military history, Luis Claret shows that the Strait of Hormuz has posed the same geographical problem for twenty-five centuries. It is narrow and shallow, has two shores in rival hands, and its strongpoints cannot supply themselves.

The book follows the problem through:

Nearchus fleet and the Sasanian thalassocracy; the medieval Kingdom of Hormuz, a trading power with no navy; Afonso de Albuquerque, who in 1507 first conceived of closing a strait as a weapon; the Anglo-Persian alliance that took Hormuz in 1622; Britains century and a half of "peace of the guns"; the age of oil, the Tanker War and Operation Praying Mantis; the 2026 crisis.

Throughout, one rule holds: whoever controlled the passage had an interest in keeping it open, because their revenue depended on the traffic. The book explains why that rule held for so long, why mines, small craft and coastal missiles have always favoured the weaker side, and why the logic finally broke in 2026.

Clear, rigorous and illustrated with historical maps and plates, Hormuz is an essential guide for anyone who wants to understand the crisis beyond the headlines, and to remember that, as Ecclesiastes says, there is nothing new under the sun.