Sea of Troubles by Ian Rutledge

Price: 148.06 AED

Publisher: Saqi Books 

Year of Publication: 2023

ISBN: 9780863569500

About the Book

In the mid-eighteenth century, most of the Mediterranean coastline and its hinterlands were controlled by the Ottoman Empire, a vast Islamic power regarded by Christian Europe with awe and fear. However, by the end of the First World War, this great civilisation had been completely subjugated, its territories occupied by European states.

In Sea of Troubles, Ian Rutledge reveals how the Mediterranean – the fault line between Europe and Islam – became the most important centre of European imperialist rivalry. Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Austria-Hungary and Russia all wrestled for control of the trade, lands and wealth of this Islamic region. As rivalries intensified, events would spiral out of control as the continent headed towards war.

This masterful, richly detailed account illuminates over three centuries of European imperialism in the Islamic Mediterranean. Sea of Troubles reveals the chain reaction of conquest and violence that culminated in the First World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

About the Author

Ian Rutledge is an economist, historian and Arabist. He obtained his undergraduate degree and PhD in Economic History from the University of Cambridge. Previously an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Sheffield University’s Management School, he has taught at the Universities of London and Sheffield, and for the Workers’ Educational Association. Rutledge has contributed numerous papers to academic journals, including the Cambridge Journal of Economics, and has published articles in national newspapers such as the Financial Times and The Guardian. His other works include the critically acclaimed Enemy on the Euphrates: The Battle for Iraq, 1914–1921 (by Saqi Books) and Addicted to Oil: America’s Relentless Drive for Energy Security.