LINCOLN PAINE

Este es un trabajo monumental sobre la historia mundial a través del prisma marítimo. Desde cómo el ser humano inició sus primeros contactos entre sí gracias a los océanos, ríos o lagos, hasta cómo productos, lenguas, religiones y culturas enteras se expandieron por el mundo a traves de las rutas maritimas, mezclando civilizaciones y definiendo el mundo y al ser humano tal y como es hoy en dia. El mar y la civilizacion es un fascinante recorrido por las gestas navales, desde las primeras grandes migraciones a las grandes culturas comerciales maritimas de la antiguedad, desde las barcas de remo de la dinastia Song a los gigantescos portaaviones y barcos de carga. Lincoln Paine lleva al lector a una aventura intelectual iluminando la historia con una nueva y original perspectiva en el que el mar es el territorio supremo, al fin y al cabo el 70% del mundo es agua. Pero sobre todo Paine nos explica algo que no habia sido tan estudiado, como la creacion y caida de los imperios a lo largo de la historia estan conectados con el mar. Un ciclopeo trabajo historico lleno de detalles y conclusiones reveladores que se ha convertido en un libro de referencia.

This engaging overview of Maines maritime history ranges from early Native American travel and fishing to pre-Plymouth European settlements, wars, international trade, shipbuilding, boom-and-bust fisheries, immigrant quarrymen, quick-lime production, yachting, and modern port facilities, all unfolding against one of the most dramatic seascapes on the planet. Down East can be read in an evening but will be referred to again and again. When the first edition was published in 2000, Walter Cronkitea veteran Maine coastal sailor as well as The Most Trusted Man in Americawrote that Paines economy of phrase and clarity of purpose make this book a delight. Paine went on to write his monumental opus The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World (PW starred review), but now returns to his first and most abiding love, the coast of Maine, to revise and update this gem of a book. The new edition is printed in a large, full-color format with a stunning complement of historical photos, paintings, charts, and illustrations, making this a truly visual journey along a storied coast.

A monumental retelling of world history through the lens of maritime enterprise, revealing in breathtaking depth how people first came into contact with one another by ocean and river, lake and stream, and how goods, languages, religions, and entire cultures spread across and along the worlds waterways, bringing together civilizations and defining what makes us most human. Lincoln Paine takes us back to the origins of long-distance migration by sea with our ancestors first forays from Africa and Eurasia to Australia and the Americas. He demonstrates the critical role of maritime trade to the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley. He reacquaints us with the great seafaring cultures of antiquity like those of the Phoenicians and Greeks, as well as those of India and Southeast and East Asia, who parlayed their navigational skills, shipbuilding techniques, and commercial acumen to establish thriving overseas colonies and trade routes in the centuries leading up to the age of European expansion. And finally, his narrative traces how commercial shipping and naval warfare brought about the enormous demographic, cultural, and political changes that have globalized the world throughout the postCold War era. This tremendously readable intellectual adventure shows us the world in a new light, in which the sea reigns supreme. We find out how a once-enslaved East African king brought Islam to his people, what the American sail-around territories were, and what the Song Dynasty did with twenty-wheel, human-powered paddleboats with twenty paddle wheels and up to three hundred crew. Above all, Paine makes clear how the rise and fall of civilizations can be linked to the sea. An accomplishment of both great sweep and illuminating detail, The Sea and Civilization is a stunning work of history.