The Indian Ocean in world history /

Alpers (emer., UCLA) marshals his formidable pedagogical and authorial skills to integrate a plethora of human experiences from Eastern Africa to the South China Sea over 7,000 years. Convincingly making the case that the many disparate regions across half the globe warrant study collectively, this text aimed at world history students is peppered with appropriate quotes from primary sources, helpful maps locating all the disparate locales discussed, and illustrative photographs. Filling his book with references to European and local pirates, slaves, economic booms and busts, and a particularly rich emphasis on the role that Muslims from Arabia and South Asia played in competition with Chinese, Gujarati, and Iranun traders in Southeast Asia, Alpers draws from the works of, among others, Giancarlo Casale, Nile Green, and James Warren. As such, this is a valuable initiation for students to Indian Ocean studies. And yet, for as much as the case is made, the book reads densely. Students will need to consult other works for details about the complexities of varied intersections between peoples and processes in this newest addition to the OUP series on world history. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. I. Iumi Georgia State University