Ever since the first Minoans set sail, this extraordinary region, the meeting place of three continents, has formed both a bridge and a battlefield between nations and economies. It witnessed the birth of three of antiquity’s greatest civilisations – Greece, Rome and Egypt – and countless other cultures. The Middle Sea is the remarkable story of the Mediterranean, a vast subject, both in time – from ancient Crete to the Treaty of Versailles – and in geography – from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Dardanelles. John Julius Norwich knows the Mediterranean as few others, and as he effortlessly navigates its waters, he reveals the astonishing history of the region. Why did Ancient Rome see Carthage as its main rival? What turned medieval Sicily into one of the richest powers in Europe? Why did Provence have more in common with North Africa than Normandy? What made Britain attribute such importance to taking and holding ‘the Rock’?

With inimitable authority and in his trademark narrative style, Norwich explains how the ‘middle sea’ itself played a pivotal role in the evolution of the region. He grips us with his descriptions of the rise and fall of the most glittering empires; the passion and brutality of religious conflicts – the Arabs in Spain, Syria and North Africa; the ill-fated Crusaders – the great personalities and dynasties – Süleyman the Magnificent and his son Selim II ‘the Sot’ (‘a nickname he richly deserved’), Charlemagne (‘illiterate, immoral, almost half-barbarian’), the Borgias and the Medicis, Mohammed and El Cid, Lord Byron and T. E. Lawrence.

Throughout its varied past, the Mediterranean furthered the development of cultures and civilisations, whether through trade or warfare. The hellenistic legacy of Alexander the Great’s short-lived empire provided fertile ground for the spread of Christianity three centuries later. The splendour of Islamic architecture in Muslim Spain and the excellence of mathematical and medical learning there were a beacon to the rest of Europe. The Venetians built St Mark’s in imitation of the wonders of Byzantium and, when chance permitted, looted the city’s treasures to adorn their own squares, churches and palaces. Napoleon in his turn looted Venice and Egypt, and was followed by the antiquity hunters of the 19th century. Geographically, the Mediterranean is unique – in John Julius Norwich’s rich chronicle we can see how it also stands alone in historical importance.

The best general history of the Mediterranean available today

The Folio Society is proud to publish this work by John Julius Norwich, a modern master of narrative history. He is an authority on the Mediterranean, having written acclaimed histories of Venice and Byzantium, both Folio bestsellers, as well as histories of Norman Sicily and Mount Athos. Originally published in 2006, The Middle Sea is the natural culmination of his gifts. It has been widely hailed in the press as a major achievement.

A dazzling gallery of Mediterranean history and culture

This Folio Society edition contains a new preface by the author. It is published in two volumes, and lavishly illustrated, with additional maps. Included here are nearly 100 illustrations celebrating the glories of Mediterranean art and architecture, from Phoenician statues to Seljuk mosques, as well as scenes of key events in Mediterranean history: the Battle of Lepanto, the Siege of Gibraltar, Delacroix’s Greece Expiring on the Ruins of Missolonghi, and a photograph of Kaiser Wilhelm II arriving in Jerusalem. These images provide the perfect visual accompaniment to Norwich’s vivid history of the Sea that was, for so many, ‘a cradle and a grave, a bond and a barrier, a blessing and a battlefield’.