Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 BC-AD 1000 Paperback – Illustrated, April 26, 2011

Normally I'd reserve this sort of title for a novel by Grisham, but in Barry Cunliffe's Europe between the Oceans it was really the case. He manages to cover a broad swathe of history geographically, chronologically and multi-disciplinarily with such ease that one is swept along. Starting in Paleohistory he describes the climatic, tectonic and vegetative changes which took place and how they influenced the population of various areas in Europe (actually from UK to the steppes to Mesopotamia). Then he describes the slow expansion during Mesolithic times as an accretion along the waterways and plains and how it was limited or aided by geographic formations and rivers. Then the acceleration in Neolithic times, etc up until 1000 AD. He shows how the language, religion and economic activities were transferred from one people to another and argues against waves of marauders conquering and replacing those in their path. He argues instead for replacement and creolisation for the spread of Indo-European language and other elements including what he calls the "Neolithic Package".I cannot praise sufficiently the lucidity of his writing, the clarity of the information which he presents, the usefulness of the copious diagrams provided. He transmits a total picture so that one actually understands not only the systemic changes which probably took place over time but also the archeological and other methods that were used to determine them. He is dogmatic on the point that the spread of culture, religion and sometimes language were largely due to dispersion rather than conquest, and the diagrams could be better labelled with the place names that he references, but those are niggles rather than complaints. I also find the creolisation argument for Germanic, Slavic, Celtic and Baltic hard to accept, but I am just a layman who has been utterly bowled over by this wonderful book.As the book progresses he develops the themes introduced at the beginning: that the geography of Europe and the Mediterranean favour certain trade routes and that coupled with population pressures and other macro effects largely determine the spread of culture. There are many fascinating chapters but the most enthralling was possibly the one on the Roman civilisation. Sandwiched between the Etruscans and the Goths, with Celts and a few others thrown in, Cunliffe shows how their historical power bases, movements, pressures and social systems interact across the European canvas to produce the history that we know. He shows the effect of outstanding individuals like Diocletion but in general the inevitabilty of the macro developments portrayed demonstrates the insignificance of a single person on the course of events.This is slow reading because the information is so densely packed. But every word read gives immense pleasure as mental doors are opened and whole vistas present themselves which, unaided, would have remained sealed and invisible. I recommend very strongly to go on the 20,000 year journey with Barry Cunliffe and sail the ancient rivers and trade routes to a better understanding of your past.

Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 BC-AD 1000 Europe between the Oceans is a marvelous book on at least three levels. First, it is itself an impressive artifact, a prime example of what a great loss it would be if publishers abandoned the printed page to go exclusively to electronic media. This is the sort of book you will want to own and have on your shelves not only for future reference, but also for purely aesthetic reasons. The hundreds of illustrations -- mostly maps and photos of archeological artifacts and sites -- are often beautiful and are always relevant to the text. They complement and clarify what Cunliffe has to say, as opposed to interfering with the narrative.Second, this volume is a grand synthesis of what archeologists, historians, and other specialists know about the distant past. It is a fine example of "big history," the sort that addresses the "longue dureé," not just brief episodes. The total sweep is 10,000 years and even the individual chapters span sufficiently broad periods for Cunliffe to see patterns and trends that would be obscured in finer focus. Europe between the Oceans is also big history in the sense that it is interdisciplinary. Cunliffe is an archeologist and that is the specialized knowledge most on display here, but he also branches into geology, oceanography, genetics, and other sciences applicable to doing history in the absence of written documents. And for the later periods when the texts are there he has absorbed much of the relevant scholarship.Third, Cunliffe offers many illuminating insights and interpretations. I caution that I am a non-specialist reader, so I am not sure of the originality of much of what he has to say, but it impressed me. I will present just a few examples in the summary that follows.Much like Jared Diamond, Cunliffe attends to geographic and environmental factors that may have conferred advantage. He claims that the diets of the coastal peoples of what he call the "European Peninsula" enabled a rapid increase in population and led to a more sedentary lifestyle. Even in much of the interior the European landscape and environment were supportive of human thriving: a wide variety of ecological niches supported development of distinctive economies. Cunliffe notes the favorable location of Middle Europe (the North Alpine area), for instance. It commands the northern approaches to the passes through the Alps and incorporates the headwaters of the major rivers. East-west trade routes passed through this zone and were especially active in the late Bronze age (c. 1300-800 BC), for example.One of Cunliffe's major themes is that the favorable environmental and resource conditions that supported population growth in turn "led to the development of complex societies hierarchically structured and controlled by elites." These societies competed for land, resources, and luxury goods. This competition, Cunliffe continues, "energized society, creating a dynamic that drove forward production, innovation, and exploration." The author draws on Braudel to make the large point that imbalances in the distribution of resources are productive of change.Seas and rivers facilitated exploration and exchange. A major strength of this book lies in how Cunliffe has applied the archeological findings, the distribution of found artifacts, to document trade routes and patterns. For much of the period that he examines he believes that ideas and values flowed primarily through exchange networks. But population pressures also contributed to mass migrations from time to time as well.Cunliffe observes that the period 800-500 BC was pivotal; he entitles this chapter "The Three Hundred Years that Changed the World". Greeks, Phoenicians, Etruscans, Carthaginians, and Romans emerged as big players on the world stage. Whereas previously the trading system was built largely on tribute and gift-giving among elites, by the end of this period it had shifted toward exchange of commodities without further obligations.Cunliffe seeks to restore a balance, to give areas outside the Mediterranean cultures their proper due. He points out that the disparity in the historical information available between the Mediterranean zone and the rest of Europe has contributed to a tendency to treat them separately. Instead, he claims, the two areas "... can only be understood in relation to each other."I especially appreciated Cunliffe's willingness from time to time to speculate beyond the evidence (he clearly calls out when he is doing this). Similarly, he acknowledges at least some of the problems presented by reliance on archeological findings. For instance, he points out that just tracking crude numbers of discovered objects can mislead because the great majority of surviving objects come from hoards -- deposits deliberately buried in the earth -- or from bodies of water where they may have been deposited as votive offerings to the gods. Thus, for example, the increase in recovered bronze items dating to the 1300-800 BC period may reflect shifts in the practices of worshiping deities, rather than an increase in bronze in circulation. We simply cannot say for sure.It will take you awhile to get through Europe between the Oceans if you attend to it carefully, but if you are like me you will find pleasures on virtually every page.

A great read

The length of the period covered - 10,000 years from 9,000 BC to 1000 AD - obviously means the author has done a lot of selection & compression. His reasoning behind how he has done this is one of the attractions of the book. It should be treated as a "personal overview" which may help readers structure their own thinking about Europe in particular, and human development more generally. The treatment of certain specific topics are now wrong, I believe, in the light of subsequent findings based on ancient DNA. But so long as readers are prepared to keep this it mind - and even to ask how the new findings might modify the thrust of what the author is saying - it does not detract from the enjoyment of his narrative. The narrative sweeps along and is often quite romantic, even provocative, in tone and phrasing. Reading this has certainly been very helpful to me in providing a great deal of necessary background in a compact form. It helps me put other more detailed things that I read into an overarching framework.

Además de ser un libro excelente, la edición es fantástica

Well written, most informative, and a page turner. Also a set book for a course l am taking. Up

This is a nice overview of the pre- history of Europe .A book must have for everyone .