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Tides of History: From the Beginnings to Islam
Jacques Pirenne, the world famous Belgian historian and son of the equally distinguished Henri Pirenne, has here completed a study of universal history, covering the whole of civilization from the beginnings to the most recent events of the 1950's.
Professor Pirenne does not confine himself to political events; he traces the development of trade, economy and social conditions and devotes much space to art, architecture, currency and the development of religious and political thinking.
Gigantic in its scope this study is remarkable for its lucidity and its comprehensiveness. It is a truly majestic ride encompassing the Incas, Babylon, Ancient Egypt, through to the middle ages, the renaissance, indeed every important historical event of man.
Professor Pirenne does not confine himself to political events; he traces the development of trade, economy and social conditions and devotes much space to art, architecture, currency and the development of religious and political thinking.
Gigantic in its scope this study is remarkable for its lucidity and its comprehensiveness. It is a truly majestic ride encompassing the Incas, Babylon, Ancient Egypt, through to the middle ages, the renaissance, indeed every important historical event of man.
584 pages, Hardcover
Published June 29, 2006
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November 20, 2022Comment:
Argues for the centrality of sea-powers in History. He sees them all as (in some form) 'proto-capitalists'! This book made an impression on Samir Amin. In fact, in his essay in "The World System: Five Hundred Years or Five Thousand?" he very smartly compares the position of Gunder Frank and Gills with Pirenne. As Amin presents it, the issue is whether class analysis or a certain understanding of political geography (land vs. sea power) is to be the master science of human history. Of course, Amin lines up on the Marxist side.
I, however, do not believe that there are any master sciences of human history. Thus geopolitics, class analysis, kinship, religion, disease, demography, language, natural resources, ideology and other factors must all be considered when trying to understand concrete history. It is likely that each factor, at some point, gets to play the role of the leading factor in certain circumstances. But there is no guarantee that it will do so later.
I saw this book when I was a kid in high school (the early seventies) but his manner of referring to ancient maritime societies as 'capitalist' put me off and I quickly moved on. (These societies were throughout contrasted with 'feudal' land powers.) Pity, I should have stuck with it and perhaps I might have glimpsed the direction that 'world-systems' theory would subsequently go. I mean Pirenne is not only talking about, but emphasizing, trade routes, maritime powers and 'capital' throughout this book! (Obviously, Braudel was moving in this direction too.) For instance, he titles chapter 40 (in Book 9 on the Roman Crisis of the Second and first centuries BC) "From Capitalism to Demagogy"! No wonder I walked away from this book in the seventies! At the time, no one I had read was speaking like this.
I just recently picked this first volume up used for a couple of bucks. It was this specific volume I walked away from when I was in high school. I don't believe I ever saw the second volume. If I now like this one I will hunt down the second volume. This book was published in French in 1959 and translated in 1962. I am a bit surprised that the Younger Pirenne warranted such a quick translation.
Well, now having read it I can recommend it. It is a geopolitical understanding of the cold war. Sea Power good. Land Power bad. Sea Powers are (more or less) free, land powers are (more or less) authoritarian. USA good, USSR bad. Of course, his advocacy of the seapower side (USA) is why the book was quickly translated. Another geopolitically informed book of the cold war era is "Oriental Despotism: a Comparative Study of Total Power" by Karl August Wittfogel. Wittfogel was an anti-Stalinist Marxist (better said, Marxist informed) thinker. Both Pirenne and Wittfogel are, if you are interested in geopolitics, well worth reading.
Argues for the centrality of sea-powers in History. He sees them all as (in some form) 'proto-capitalists'! This book made an impression on Samir Amin. In fact, in his essay in "The World System: Five Hundred Years or Five Thousand?" he very smartly compares the position of Gunder Frank and Gills with Pirenne. As Amin presents it, the issue is whether class analysis or a certain understanding of political geography (land vs. sea power) is to be the master science of human history. Of course, Amin lines up on the Marxist side.
I, however, do not believe that there are any master sciences of human history. Thus geopolitics, class analysis, kinship, religion, disease, demography, language, natural resources, ideology and other factors must all be considered when trying to understand concrete history. It is likely that each factor, at some point, gets to play the role of the leading factor in certain circumstances. But there is no guarantee that it will do so later.
I saw this book when I was a kid in high school (the early seventies) but his manner of referring to ancient maritime societies as 'capitalist' put me off and I quickly moved on. (These societies were throughout contrasted with 'feudal' land powers.) Pity, I should have stuck with it and perhaps I might have glimpsed the direction that 'world-systems' theory would subsequently go. I mean Pirenne is not only talking about, but emphasizing, trade routes, maritime powers and 'capital' throughout this book! (Obviously, Braudel was moving in this direction too.) For instance, he titles chapter 40 (in Book 9 on the Roman Crisis of the Second and first centuries BC) "From Capitalism to Demagogy"! No wonder I walked away from this book in the seventies! At the time, no one I had read was speaking like this.
I just recently picked this first volume up used for a couple of bucks. It was this specific volume I walked away from when I was in high school. I don't believe I ever saw the second volume. If I now like this one I will hunt down the second volume. This book was published in French in 1959 and translated in 1962. I am a bit surprised that the Younger Pirenne warranted such a quick translation.
Well, now having read it I can recommend it. It is a geopolitical understanding of the cold war. Sea Power good. Land Power bad. Sea Powers are (more or less) free, land powers are (more or less) authoritarian. USA good, USSR bad. Of course, his advocacy of the seapower side (USA) is why the book was quickly translated. Another geopolitically informed book of the cold war era is "Oriental Despotism: a Comparative Study of Total Power" by Karl August Wittfogel. Wittfogel was an anti-Stalinist Marxist (better said, Marxist informed) thinker. Both Pirenne and Wittfogel are, if you are interested in geopolitics, well worth reading.
January 19, 2026
One of the best universal history books I have ever read! It really explained the ancient world. I don't understand why the rest of the series was never translated into english and is not available, at least there's still Vol 2.
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