The Indian Ocean

by Michael N. Pearson

In this stimulating and authoritative overview, Michael Pearson reverses the traditional angle of maritime history and looks from the sea to its shores - its impact on the land through trade, naval power, travel and scientific exploration. This vast ocean, both connecting and separating nations, has shaped many countries' cultures and ideologies through the movement of goods, people, ideas and religions across the sea.

The Indian Ocean moves from a discussion of physical elements, its shape, winds, currents and boundaries, to a history from pre-Islamic times to the modern period of European dominance. Going far beyond pure maritime history, this compelling survey is an invaluable addition to political, cultural and economic world history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ebooks, India, Historical, World History

352 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2003

Reviews

[Warren Watts · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had somewhat high expectations for this book and I am somewhat disappointed that my expectations weren't met.

The book was obviously written by someone with a true love for the region. Thoroughly researched, the book provides an amazingly complete history of the Indian Ocean.

You will probably learn something from this book.

A plus for me:
Near the end of each chapter, the author provides personal accounts recorded by people in the period of history being explored. Those accounts really added a spark of life to the people and places being discussed.

I didn't like:
The presentation of some of the material was kind of dry and factual.

[Mac · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bust.

Reads like a third or fourth year student essay. Clunky and inexperienced. Look elsewhere.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent history that treats from prehistory to the 21st century. The treatment of the past 100 years is a tad banal and obvious but the treatment of the greater history is brilliant.

Please note, Pearson is an academic and though writing for a general audience the book has that musty feel which most academics give off. Still, this is an important addition to an area of the world that should become increasingly important over the next 50 or 60 years...or whenever the oil runs out.

Highly recommended for those interested in world history, trade, and geopolitics.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't say I would read this on my own, or, for that matter, recommend it to a casual reader. But it's a really impressive work of scholarship, relying on the insights and methods of Braudel to sketch out the history of the Indian Ocean. Pearson very nicely pivots from a reliance on the "deep structures" underlying the history of the Indian Ocean (monsoon winds in particular) and its littoral to an acknowledgement that technology "defeated" those deep structures in the 19th and 20th centuries.

[Shan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an impressive and well researched work on an Ocean that has many stories to tell. The author packed a lot of information into the book, but it was a very great read. A bit dry at times because of the endless information and facts. If you get through those short dry patches, the book offers a lot.

[Petra Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good brief history on the Indian Ocean, a place with vast but extremely important role in the world. Super dense so it can be hard to read just because of the shear amount of information. Also ends on a sort of depressing note that I don't quite agree with.

[Mike Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough and expansive, and tackles a very wide history and society quite well. Only criticism is the dryness of the writing

[Aaron Gibbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a very thorough study of trade, religion, culture, and colonialism in the Indian Ocean, and Pearson's choice to view the region's history from the sea provides some insights that may not have been reached otherwise.

Yet his dry, uninspired prose (coupled with a narrative structure that is, at best, loose) never ceases to remind the reader that they are, after all, reading a textbook.

[Vysloczil]

Probably the best book on the topic right now. It is a very dense read and not strictly categorised into sub-chapters according to periods and themes. It is thus very fluid and not ideal for later reference. But imo this gives it a good balance for a book full of historical fact.