Dr. Asa Eger

• History
• Associate Professor, 2015

The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II
by Fernand Braudel

Braudel's pioneering book is a beautifully written study and meditation on the history of humans in relation to their surroundings. The landscape of the Mediterranean is no longer a backdrop but an active participant in human history, tightly woven together, and affecting its course through slow yet dynamic ripples of change. The scope of this work captures the quiet actors in history: the farmers in laying their fields, the nomads in threading up mountains, and nature itself, responding to human impact itself. Braudel's language is poetry and a pleasure to read.