The focus of Fernand Braudel's great work is the Mediterranean world in the second half of the sixteenth century, but Braudel ranges back in history to the world of Odysseus and forward to our time, moving out from the Mediterranean area to the New World and other destinations of Mediterranean traders. Braudel's scope embraces the natural world and material life, economics The focus of Fernand Braudel's great work is the Mediterranean world in the second half of the sixteenth century, but Braudel ranges back in history to the world of Odysseus and forward to our time, moving out from the Mediterranean area to the New World and other destinations of Mediterranean traders.
HOUSEONTHEHILLMARYVILLE.COM Online Source For Free Ebook and Pdf Downloads La Mediterranee Et Le Monde Mediterraneen A L Epoque De Philippe Ii Tome 1 1 La Part Du Milieu Fernand Braudel File.
Braudel's scope embraces the natural world and material life, economics, demography, politics, and diplomacy. This is not like a normal history book. One does not simply sit down and read Braudel's Mediterranean. It is a two part thing and each part is seven hundred pages, and there really is no narrative thru-line. I think the best way to approach this book is to keep it around, and read it in chunks in between other works of history.
Then you'll need to refer back to it in the future. The thing is, you're going to need to take this 'total history' piece by piece and decide if it works for you.What Bra This is not like a normal history book. One does not simply sit down and read Braudel's Mediterranean. It is a two part thing and each part is seven hundred pages, and there really is no narrative thru-line. I think the best way to approach this book is to keep it around, and read it in chunks in between other works of history.
Then you'll need to refer back to it in the future. The thing is, you're going to need to take this 'total history' piece by piece and decide if it works for you.What Braudel does here, ostensibly, is tell the story of the Mediterranean world during the second half of the sixteenth century, during the reign of Philip II of Spain. A lot of things happened, politically, during that time, most of which had to do with Phil and the Spaniards in the western part of the sea versus the Ottomans in the eastern part. According to Braudel, however, these military and political events (which are only covered in detail in final third of the book) are really not very important. They are surface manifestations of the deeper structures which truly drive the Mediterranean world. What is very important to FB is to examine, in painstaking detail, the geography of the Mediterranean, its climate, its many people, the economic ties that bind them together, the trading routes that snake north and south and east, the cyclical symbiotic fellowship between warfare and piracy over the centuries, and on and on, etc. It is only after examining these structures in detail that we can begin to understand the way both westerners and easterners saw the Mediterranean when they found themselves in conflict.I finished this a few weeks ago, and what I find is that little bits of it stay with me.
I think that is its use, really - I will remember, occasionally, hey, Braudel had that interesting bit on the four different major trade routes north from the Mediterranean, I should reread that chapter and see whether it helps me understand this other thing I'm reading. Or, hey, I wonder if Braudel's bit on pirates might help me understand that part of American history where the early republic traders were dealing with that pirate problem.This is an amazing work of scholarship. Whether or not you like this method of examining history, you have to respect the study and craft that went into putting it all together. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it,I will admit a few things before I even begin really talking about this book.1. It is almost impossible to read this book if you are unwilling to look things up. How many times will you see words like axial or transhumance before realizing you should look them up?2. The book was written for an audience that already would have some familiarity with time and place.
Fernand Braudel expected you to have some background knowledge about the Holy Roman Empire, European royalty in general, and the geo I will admit a few things before I even begin really talking about this book.1. It is almost impossible to read this book if you are unwilling to look things up. How many times will you see words like axial or transhumance before realizing you should look them up?2. The book was written for an audience that already would have some familiarity with time and place. Fernand Braudel expected you to have some background knowledge about the Holy Roman Empire, European royalty in general, and the geography of the Mediterranean (the greatest flaw of this book is the absence of a comprehensive map.). For instance, the fact that Charles V, the Holy Roman Emporer was Phillip II's father was mentioned only once, and this was only offhand after hundreds of pages where knowing that would have helped put things into perspective. And I don't believe it was ever made explicit that Charles V Holy Roman Emporer was once Charles I King of Spain.
As much as I got out of this book, I can only imagine how deep a real student of history would have found it.3. The book is too much to fit all into your brain at once and you will understand some parts better than others. Don't stress yourself. This really was the most challenging reading I have ever done.4 Finally, I've seen many people complain that this book is too wordy and uses too many 'big words.' But I challenge you to find a single wasted word in the entire 1200+ pages! And there is never a 'big word' used where a smaller one would suffice- when you look up the word, you'll see that he's using it quite specifically.
However, the only other flaw in this book is the insane amount of untranslated Latin, French, Italian, and German excerpts. Like I'm just a bungler and can get the gist, but I think providing a translation would have been much better and educational.Ok so having said all that, this was a beautiful book. A truly amazing achievement!
I have nothing left for it but praise and admiration.The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 describes the geographical and ecological reality of the place and defines the place and the people. Basically, if you walked counter-clockwise around the Mediterranean from Morocco, across Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Albania, Italy, the South of France and across the Pyranees to Spain and Gibralter, you would find, if not the same language, the same way of life.
The same plants- the olive tree, the grape, and the palm, the same weather- cold rainy winters and hot dry summers, the same houses- stone or mudbrick thick walled open air, the same rhythm of life, the same occupations, et cetera et cetera. Just what I was looking for. So lucky we have it in English.
Part of the overarching theme of course. Here:'.The great cities remained in their dominating positions, with the advantages of high prices, high wages, and many customers for their shops, while satellite towns surrounded them, looked towards them, used them and were used by them.
These planetary systems, so typical of Europe and the Mediterranean, were to continue to function virtually unimpeded.Nevertheless, conspicu It's great. Just what I was looking for. So lucky we have it in English. Part of the overarching theme of course. Here:'.The great cities remained in their dominating positions, with the advantages of high prices, high wages, and many customers for their shops, while satellite towns surrounded them, looked towards them, used them and were used by them. These planetary systems, so typical of Europe and the Mediterranean, were to continue to function virtually unimpeded.Nevertheless, conspicuous changes, which could not be ignored, did take place: they too followed a fairly logical pattern.In the first place, an increase in population always works both ways: it may be a source of strength or of weakness, stability or insecurity.
Many ancient evils persisted and were sometimes aggravated: the sixteenth century had neither the courage nor the strength to eradicate them. Secondly, the cities were no longer undisputed rulers in the world. Their reign, which had lasted throughout the early rise of Europe and the Mediterranean, from the eleventh to the fourteenth century, was beginning to be challenged at the threshold of modern times by the territorial states which modern times suddenly projected to the centre of the stage. Finally, the rural population was still in the majority. The towns were reaching a peak, perhaps overreaching it. When the population declined in the seventeenth century, as in Venezia, where figures are available, the towns declined more rapidly than the surrounding countryside. Had the picture changed by the eighteenth century?
M Moheau claimed in 1778 that rural France was then growing faster than urban France. These rapid comparisons may help us to understand the decisive yet fragile fortunes of the towns in the sixteenth century.' .famine and the wheat problem.'
The sixteenth century was not always kind to urban communities. Famine and epidemics waged a continuous onslaught on the towns.
Because of the slowness and prohibitive price of transport and the unreliability of the harvests, any urban center could be exposed to famine at any time of year. The slightest pressure could tip the balance. When the Council of Trent met for the third and last time in 1561 (and although the town was on the great Brenner-Adige route, the route taken by the Bavarian grain which sometimes served Verona). The first problem facing the delegates to the council and their staff was the difficult question of supplies, about which Rome was justifiably anxious. Both in the Mediterranean regions and outside famine was a commonplace hazard.
The famine in Castile in 1521 coincided with the beginning of the war against France and the rising of the Communeros at home. Nobles and commoners alike were panic-stricken by the lack of bread during that year which was known in Portugal as the year of the Great Hunger.
In 1525 Andalusia was devastated by a terrible drought. In 1528 famine brought terror to Tuscany: Florence had to close her gates to the starving peasants from surrounding districts.
In 1540 the same thing happened. Again Florence was about to close her gates and abandon the countryside to its fate, when the region was saved by the arrival of ships at Leghorn carrying grain from the Levant; but that was something of a miracle. In 1575, in the Rumanian countryside, which was normally rich in cereals, the flocks died by the hundred; the birds were surprised in March by snowdrifts five feet deep and could be caught in the hand. As for the human inhabitants, they would kill their neighbors for a piece of bread. In 1583 the scourge swept through Italy, particularly in the Papal States where people starved to death.More often however, famine did not attack entire regions, but struck only the towns.
The striking feature of the famine in Tuscany in 1528 was that it extended to the entire countryside surrounding Florence. At Perugia in 1529 there was no grain at all for a radius of 50 miles. These were still rare catastrophes. In normal times the peasants would obtain from their own land almost all the frugal fare on which they survived. Urban famine on the contrary, within the city walls was an extremely frequent occurrence in the sixteenth century. Florence, although it certainly does not lie in a particularly poor region, experienced 111 famines between 1375 and 1791 more than one every four years, as against sixteen very good harvests over the same period. Even the wheat ports, such as Messina and Genoa, suffered terrible famines.
Every year, even at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Venice had to part with millions of gold to secure the city's food supply.and also had permanent regulations: notably in 1408, 1539, 1607 and 1628, she prohibited the export of any grain outside her 'Gulf'.what is in Venice known as the grain-office. Controlled not only grain and flour entering the city, but also sales in the city markets: flour could only be sold in two public places, one near St Mark's and the other near the Rialto. The doge was to be kept daily informed of the stocks in the warehouses. As soon as he discovered that the city had reserves only for a year or eight months, the College was duly informed, provision was made by the office, on the one hand, and on the other by the merchants, to whom sums of money were immediately advanced. The bakers were also supervised: they had to provide the public with loaves made from 'good grain', white, whose weight might vary according to the abundance or otherwise of supplies, but whose price per unit remained constant, as was the rule in most every town in Europe.When famine threatened, the measures taken were everywhere identical. To the sound of trumpets it was forbidden to take grain out of the town, the guard was doubled, searches were conducted, and available supplies were inventoried.
If the danger increased, sterner measures were taken: the number of mouths to feed was reduced, the city gates were closed, or else foreigners were expelled, the normal course at Venice, unless they had brought enough grain. The Protestants were expelled from Marseilles in 1562, a double gain for the city, which was opposed to the Huguenots.
At Naples during the famine of 1591 the university bore the brunt of the disaster. It was closed and the students were sent back home. After that, rationing was generally introduced, as in Marseilles in August 1583.But naturally before taking any other steps the town would make every effort to find provisions at any price, in the first place from its usual sources. Marseilles usually turned to the interior and the gracious bounty of the king of France, or applied to 'her very dear and beloved friends', the consuls of Arles, even to the merchants of Lyons. And in order to reach the grain of Burgundy beyond Lyons and to convey it down river to Marseilles, the boats.
Had to pass 'the bridges. Without grand danger'.At Barcelona in August 1557, the Inquisitors begged Philip II to allow them be sent, at least for their personal use, a little wheat from Roussillon. The Inquisitors of Valencia in the following year asked permission to import wheat from Castile, a request that was repeated in 1559. Verona, expecting a poor harvest, asked the Serenissima permission to buy wheat in Bavaria. Ragusa turned to the sandjak of Herzegovina; Venice asked the Grand Turk for authorisation to load grain in the Levant.Every time this meant negotiations, expeditions, large expenditure, not to mention promises and extra payments to the merchants.If all else failed, the last great resource was to turn to the sea, to watch out for grain ships, seize them, then to pay the party concerned for the cargo later, not without some discussion. And nobody was more skilled at this unpopular practice than Venice.
As soon as her food supply was endangered, no ship loaded with wheat was safe in the Adriatic. Her behavior was the source of persistent, quite justified, and completely ineffective protest from Naples, backed up by Spain: the ships seized by Venice were usually those that Naples had chartered for her own supplies. Venice's captures were likely to provoke riots in a city swarming with poor people.All this proved a great financial burden. But no town could escape its crushing weight. At Venice, enormous losses had to be registered at the Grain Office, which on the one hand gave large bonuses to merchants and on the other often sold the grain and flour it had acquired at lower than normal prices. At Florence the Grand Duke made up the difference. In Corsica, Ajaccio borrowed from Genoa.
Marseilles, which kept a tight hold on the purse strings, also borrowed, but always, looking ahead.' Pp 296-300 in the 3 volume ed. After just a first few pages, I am immediately placing this on my highest-ranking tier for the all-time greatest reference feats I've ever read.
It's colossal. It's staggering. One of the best history books I've ever encountered.Reminiscent of the great Gibbon; with that much sensitivity-but with more heart and urgency, more sweep and scope; more inquiry. All the flavor and spice that you ever wish'd Gibbon would've recounted about Rome, is here -even sprinkled in as 'asides' and anecdotes-i After just a first few pages, I am immediately placing this on my highest-ranking tier for the all-time greatest reference feats I've ever read.
It's colossal. It's staggering. One of the best history books I've ever encountered.Reminiscent of the great Gibbon; with that much sensitivity-but with more heart and urgency, more sweep and scope; more inquiry. All the flavor and spice that you ever wish'd Gibbon would've recounted about Rome, is here -even sprinkled in as 'asides' and anecdotes-in a text ostensibly focused on Philip II's Spain. It's as lively and as lurid as Herodotus, but with modern academic chops.
The type of history Braudel includes but which everyone except Herodotus omits is the gritty, granular, vernacular, minutiae of those distant, romantic ages.For instance, if you want to know what winter pastures were favored by shepherds in ancient Macedonia, Braudel has that. If you want to know the distribution of fanatic Christian vs fanatic Muslim mountain cults after the Crusades, Braudel has that. If you want to know how European wheat prices rose with the influx of Peruvian silver brought back in Spanish galleons, Braudel has that too. Routes for mule-teams through the Alps? Number of foreign merchant ships docked annually in Venice during the 1510's?
Position of Bedouin watering-holes in the sub-Sahara? Sumptuous, outlandish detail. It's as if it was written by God.This is an epic work for keeping permanently on one's bedside table or taking along on a road trip. It's transcendent.
You can thumb through any section at random; reading at whim, and be well-rewarded. Pick it up, put it down-just as you choose. The narrative never flags.Perfect! 'If Italy took no part in the great movement of colonization of distant territories the reason is perhaps partly to be sought in her preoccupation with reclaiming all available land within her own frontiers, from the flooded plains to the mountain peaks.' 'The importance of the shore was such that the coastal route was scarcely different from a river. Only the big specialized salt and grain ships had any resemblance to the destination-conscious shipping of today. The others were more like trav 'If Italy took no part in the great movement of colonization of distant territories the reason is perhaps partly to be sought in her preoccupation with reclaiming all available land within her own frontiers, from the flooded plains to the mountain peaks.'
'The importance of the shore was such that the coastal route was scarcely different from a river. Only the big specialized salt and grain ships had any resemblance to the destination-conscious shipping of today.
The others were more like travelling bazaars.' Quite some time ago, there was a photo on of a bookshelf with the poster's references for a game on the (I have no idea how the game is coming along), and Braudel's two volume work on the period was on it. A little while later, I spotted them in my local used book store, and I picked them up.They're an interesting set. Really, the book is a series of two to four page essays.
These are grouped into larger subjects (subchapters), and those into chapters, and those into three Quite some time ago, there was a photo on of a bookshelf with the poster's references for a game on the (I have no idea how the game is coming along), and Braudel's two volume work on the period was on it. A little while later, I spotted them in my local used book store, and I picked them up.They're an interesting set. Really, the book is a series of two to four page essays. These are grouped into larger subjects (subchapters), and those into chapters, and those into three parts split across two volumes. It is big, weighty, history and it is not something to read to get interested in the subject, it is for when you already are interested, and want as much information as you can get on the Mediterranean (and surrounds) in the period 1550-1600. It will certainly stay on my shelf as reference.Braudel organized his material to proceed from the things that change the least, to the things that change the most. So the first part deals with the geography of the Mediterranean and the surrounding lands.
Ironically, the 'large picture' of geology is where our understanding has changed the most, and the early parts are noticeably out of date. Past that, he starts talking of agriculture, and peoples, and movements, and starts the slow process of building up a detailed picture of the world he is writing about.Part two (which is split between the two volumes) deals with long-term trends, which in the first volume mostly means the economy. From the flow of metals into Europe from the New World, to patterns of trade, there is, again, a lot here. Unfortunately, he does assume you already know about certain things, like bankruptcies of the Spanish crown, so there is not always an explanation when I could use one.
This is a seminal work by a great historian. Two volumes written after 1940 when Braudel was a prisoner of war in Germany, working from memory. The breadth of this is astonishing.First submitted as a doctoral thesis to the Sorbonne in 1947, it established Braudel as a leader of the Annales school.
The scale of his topic is breathtaking. Arguing that the Mediterranean is a sea sourrounded by mountains, he then goes on to explain how civilizations in the Mediterranean are shaped by their geography This is a seminal work by a great historian. Two volumes written after 1940 when Braudel was a prisoner of war in Germany, working from memory. The breadth of this is astonishing.First submitted as a doctoral thesis to the Sorbonne in 1947, it established Braudel as a leader of the Annales school.
The scale of his topic is breathtaking. Arguing that the Mediterranean is a sea sourrounded by mountains, he then goes on to explain how civilizations in the Mediterranean are shaped by their geography. This is the first part of Braudel’s epic history of the late 16th century Mediterranean. The author was a member of the Annales School, employing social scientific methodology, and one of the most significant historians to apply the longue duree approach. This first volume provides detailed descriptions of the geographical, topographical and economic circumstances and includes an examination of the role of the physical environment on peoples lives, trading routes, currency etc. The second volume This is the first part of Braudel’s epic history of the late 16th century Mediterranean. The author was a member of the Annales School, employing social scientific methodology, and one of the most significant historians to apply the longue duree approach.
This first volume provides detailed descriptions of the geographical, topographical and economic circumstances and includes an examination of the role of the physical environment on peoples lives, trading routes, currency etc. The second volume tackles culture, civilization and politics.The overall sense is of layers of detail built up by the historian that show the rhythms and patterns of daily, monthly and seasonal life across the region. Finally, on top of all of that will come the political events and actions of the elites.This is a book that is frequently quoted and referenced and so I felt it was time I actually read it. To be honest I did find it a tiny bit dull in parts, with perhaps more detail of merchant shipping tonnages etc than I felt I really needed. However, I won’t really know if it has all been worth it until I get to the end of the second volume when hopefully the full value of reading the first will be clear.
Possibly the most important work of history of the 20th cen. I probably wouldn't argue this, but my point is the case can and has been made. It's a major major work - and tremendously written. When we talk about Jared Diamond, we're talking about big, long, slow processes as determining the shape of history. That's Braudel, in a nutshell-except he tried to deal with everything from trade, warfare, religion, urbanism, naval technology, culture, individual agency, etc.
He may not have succeeded Possibly the most important work of history of the 20th cen. I probably wouldn't argue this, but my point is the case can and has been made. It's a major major work - and tremendously written. When we talk about Jared Diamond, we're talking about big, long, slow processes as determining the shape of history. That's Braudel, in a nutshell-except he tried to deal with everything from trade, warfare, religion, urbanism, naval technology, culture, individual agency, etc.
He may not have succeeded in explaining everything, but he literally changed the game in France in the 1950s and 60s (and 70s in America, when his work was translated into English). Approaching the end of the first volume in this set I found myself reading some of the titles of the books referenced, particularly one French history on the economy and society of Rome during the 16th century.
Intrigued by it I tried to find an English translation, couldn't, so started reading an excerpt I found on Google books in the French and thought 'I think I could learn French to read more books if they approach anything near the caliber of Fernand Braudels'.Braudel paints a picture of th Approaching the end of the first volume in this set I found myself reading some of the titles of the books referenced, particularly one French history on the economy and society of Rome during the 16th century. Intrigued by it I tried to find an English translation, couldn't, so started reading an excerpt I found on Google books in the French and thought 'I think I could learn French to read more books if they approach anything near the caliber of Fernand Braudels'.Braudel paints a picture of the whole of the Mediterranean, starting with its Geography and then artfully compares, contrasts, and brings the whole into focus, explaining the forces that have shaped this region to bring it to the time of Philip I I.
Hundreds of details, anecdotes, and stories come together. This is history done right.If you or someone you know delights in an in depth story well told that weaves a myriad of details together to tell a story, this is the book to read.
A fantasy epic of our own world. In this volume, Braudel explains the relation between history and the slowly changing features of Mediterranean, such as seas, rivers, mountains, deserts, climate, roads and cities. I recommend this to everyone who is interested in Early Modern European history, for the book will provide a unique insight into geography and history.Pros:-Analysis of effects of geography on Mediterranean history, some comparisons with Northern Europe-Lengthy list of sources and footnotes, can be quite useful for r In this volume, Braudel explains the relation between history and the slowly changing features of Mediterranean, such as seas, rivers, mountains, deserts, climate, roads and cities. I recommend this to everyone who is interested in Early Modern European history, for the book will provide a unique insight into geography and history.Pros:-Analysis of effects of geography on Mediterranean history, some comparisons with Northern Europe-Lengthy list of sources and footnotes, can be quite useful for researchers-Lots of examplesCons:-Sometimes feels like a collection of random facts (looking at you, summer and winter pastures of sheep in Upper Provence)-Little to no comparative statistics. My view of Braudel's volume is irrelevant. It is superb, as everyone who has any interest in either history, Europe, or the Mediterranean knows.The discussion of Islam in the 15th century as 'what Europe triumphant was later to be on a world scale, a dominant economy and civilization' (p 187) follows a poetic description of the vast, sun-baked emptiness of the desert being a landed version of the Mediterranean itself.The importance of Naples as one of the two 'monstrous' cities of the time (1595 My view of Braudel's volume is irrelevant.
I've given this one star rating not because of content, but because of the writing style. I simply got tired of wading through the verbiage. Now, I have taken into account the fact that the book is a translation from the French.
Here are my complaints: long, complex sentences with embedded asides and rabbit chasing; a 'full of himself' narrative voice that assumes he is always right; providing lots of facts, but no coherent narrative - at least, none that I could discern. It seemed I was gettin I've given this one star rating not because of content, but because of the writing style. I simply got tired of wading through the verbiage. Now, I have taken into account the fact that the book is a translation from the French.
Here are my complaints: long, complex sentences with embedded asides and rabbit chasing; a 'full of himself' narrative voice that assumes he is always right; providing lots of facts, but no coherent narrative - at least, none that I could discern. It seemed I was getting his cognitive dump about everything he knows about the subject, complete with scholarly contention and debate. If I were a professional historian, this would be a must read, but I would scan it for what I might need at the moment. I quit reading, something I rarely do after I've started a book.The one thing I did like about the book was that the publisher used footnotes rather than endnotes.
But I was at a loss to discern why some information was in the main text and other was in the footnotes.It's too bad, too, for his subject is of great interest. Fernand Braudel's first volume of his magnum opus, on the everyday life in the Mediterranean at the end of the 16th century. Absolutely splendid book. Every historian should be measured to his level. A true eclectic, covering not just events of who killed whom, where and when, but also the politics, economics, geography, etymology, sociology, religion, technology, good, agriculture, trade and philosophy. Such a rich book with so much attention to detail, giving you a much better idea of what it Fernand Braudel's first volume of his magnum opus, on the everyday life in the Mediterranean at the end of the 16th century.
Absolutely splendid book. Every historian should be measured to his level. A true eclectic, covering not just events of who killed whom, where and when, but also the politics, economics, geography, etymology, sociology, religion, technology, good, agriculture, trade and philosophy.
Such a rich book with so much attention to detail, giving you a much better idea of what it was like to live at that time. One can truly relate to the people of the time. A must read for anyone interested in history of a time and place that had a great influence on the general body of human civilisation.
Minutely detailed history of the Mediterranean with a focus on the Spanish Empire interests in the area.I mean minutely detailed from the price of wheat in Italy to the summer pasturing of sheep in Greece. Some may consider it boring but the threads of each detail are woven together by Braudel to create a beautiful and vibrant tapestry of the era. It's an excellent reference for anyone who has an interest in Spain, the Spanish Empire or what was happening in the Mediterranean during Philip II's Minutely detailed history of the Mediterranean with a focus on the Spanish Empire interests in the area.I mean minutely detailed from the price of wheat in Italy to the summer pasturing of sheep in Greece. Some may consider it boring but the threads of each detail are woven together by Braudel to create a beautiful and vibrant tapestry of the era. It's an excellent reference for anyone who has an interest in Spain, the Spanish Empire or what was happening in the Mediterranean during Philip II's reign. Fernand Braudel was a French historian and a leader of the Annales School. His scholarship focused on three main projects: The Mediterranean (1923–49, then 1949–66), Civilization and Capitalism (1955–79), and the unfinished Identity of France (1970–85).
His reputation stems in part from his writings, but even more from his success in making the Annales School the most important engine of historica Fernand Braudel was a French historian and a leader of the Annales School. His scholarship focused on three main projects: The Mediterranean (1923–49, then 1949–66), Civilization and Capitalism (1955–79), and the unfinished Identity of France (1970–85). His reputation stems in part from his writings, but even more from his success in making the Annales School the most important engine of historical research in France and much of the world after 1950. As the dominant leader of the Annales School of historiography in the 1950s and 1960s, he exerted enormous influence on historical writing in France and other countries.Braudel has been considered one of the greatest of the modern historians who have emphasized the role of large-scale socioeconomic factors in the making and writing of history. He can also be considered as one of the precursors of world-systems theory.