The Ocean Reader

History, Culture, Politics

Eric Paul Roorda

• Publisher: Duke University Press Books
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781478006961
  9781478006008
• eBook ISBN:
  9781478007456
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

From prehistoric times to the present, the Ocean has been used as a highway for trade, a source of food and resources, and a space for recreation and military conquest, as well as an inspiration for religion, culture, and the arts. The Ocean Reader charts humans' relationship to the Ocean, which has often been seen as a changeless space without a history. It collects familiar, forgotten, and previously unpublished texts from all corners of the world. Spanning antiquity to the present, the volume's selections cover myriad topics including the slave trade, explorers from China and the Middle East, shipwrecks and castaways, Caribbean and Somali pirates, battles and U-boats, narratives of the Ocean's origins, and the devastating effects of climate change. Containing gems of maritime writing ranging from myth, memoir, poetry, and scientific research to journalism, song lyrics, and scholarly writing, The Ocean Reader is the essential guide for all those wanting to understand the complex and long history of the Ocean that covers over 70 percent of the planet.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• A Note on The Ocean Reader
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• I. Creation
• II. Ancient Seas
• III. Unknown Waters
• IV. Saltwater Hunt
• V. Watery Highways
• VI. Battlefields
• VII. Piracy
• VIII. Shipwrecks and Castaways
• IX. Inspiration
• X. Recreation
• XI. Laboratory
• XII. The Endangered Ocean
• Suggestions for Further Reading
• Acknowledgment of Copyrights and Sources
• Index
• Color Plates