The worlds of the Indian Ocean : a global history (Revised and updated translation)

Europe's place in history is re-assessed in this first comprehensive history of the ancient world, centering on the Indian Ocean and its role in pre-modern globalization.

Philippe Beaujard presents an ambitious and comprehensive global history of the Indian Ocean world, from the earliest state formations to 1500 CE.

Supported by a wealth of empirical data, full-color maps, plates, and figures, he shows how Asia and Africa dominated the economic and cultural landscape and the flow of ideas in the pre-modern world.

This led to a trans-regional division of labor and an Afro-Eurasian world economy.

Beaujard questions the origins of capitalism and hints at how this world-system may evolve in the future.

The result is a re-orienting of world history, taking the Indian Ocean, rather than Europe, as the point of departure.