The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World

A monumental retelling of world history through the lens of the sea—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 world’s waterways, bringing together civilizations and defining what makes us most human. The Sea and Civilization is a mesmerizing, rhapsodic narrative of maritime enterprise, from the origins of long-distance migration to the great seafaring cultures of antiquity; from Song Dynasty human-powered paddle-boats to aircraft carriers and container ships. Lincoln Paine takes the reader on an intellectual adventure casting the world in a new light, in which the sea reigns supreme. 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.

• Fifty Ships That Changed the Course of History: A Nautical History of the World (Fifty Things That Changed the Course of History)
• A History of the World in 12 Maps
• A Short History of the Sailing Ship (Dover Maritime)
• Breverton's Nautical Curiosities: A Book Of The Sea
• Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World's Oceans
• America and the Sea: A Maritime History (The American Maritime Library: Vol. XV)
• Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character
• Three Sheets to the Wind: The Nautical Origins of Everyday Expressions
• The English and Their History
• The Boundless Sea: A Human History of the Oceans