Abulafia has undertaken an extremely ambitious project: to write a summary of the entire history of the Mediterranean, from the first people to cross its waters all the way to today. He mostly succeeds, which makes this a very impressive book.
Indo-European is by far the most successful language family. Of the 15 most commonly spoken languages, 10 are Indo-European. This is not just a result of European colonialism: through most of history, including today, the largest Indo-European state has been centered in either India or Persia. Who were the original Indo-Europeans? How did they come to such dominance?
A radical view of evolution, founded on a very different understanding of time and knowledge.
