A monumental retelling of world history through the lens of the sea-revealing in breathtaking
depth how people first came into contact with one another by ocean and river lake and stream
and how goods languages religions and entire cultures spread across and along the world's
waterways bringing together civilizations and defining what makes us most human. The Sea and
Civilization is a mesmerizing rhapsodic narrative of maritime enterprise from the origins of
long-distance migration to the great seafaring cultures of antiquity from Song Dynasty
human-powered paddle-boats to aircraft carriers and container ships. Lincoln Paine takes the
reader on an intellectual adventure casting the world in a new light in which the sea reigns
supreme. Above all Paine makes clear how the rise and fall of civilizations can be linked to
the sea. An accomplishment of both great sweep and illuminating detail The Sea and
Civilization is a stunning work of history.
