Written in 1962 as the basis for a history course, this curious book is a history of the civilizations of the modern world (from the 8th century on), written in terms of the broad sweep and continuities of history, rather than "event-based". Starting with the civilizations of Islam and the Far East, Braudel takes a consciously anti-ethnocentric approach, which is in education terms almost as radical now, as it was when the French ministry of education rejected it as a basis for school history teaching in 1962.
Author Biography
Fernand Braudel was France's foremost post-war historian. He is best known for The Mediterranean in the Age of Philip II, Civilization and Capitalism and The Identity of France. Richard Mayne is a renowned translator of French. His other translations include Monet's Memoirs.
