The Indian ocean: a history of people and the sea (review)

Reviews 273 Secondly, the establishment of a relatively tolerant Latin mie over Muslims and Greeks which led to harmonious social and religious relations which were only broken down in the second half of the twelfth century. Matthew has addressed these issues with erudition and common sense. Together with Jeremy Johns, David Abulafia, Ahmad, and others, he has shown that the character of Norman mie was not so much enlightened as self-interested, tolerant rather than appreciative. It is possible that Roger II was an exception to the rule and had a genuine empathy for at least some aspects of Muslim and Byzantine civilization. But even in his case, the empathy was limited to particular interests. The position of the 'minorities' began to deteriorate as soon as sufficient numbers of Latin settlers made their presence felt: French and Norman nobility in the first instance, followed by Latin clergy, North Italian nobility and peasantry, and bourgeoisie from the North Italian communes settling in the great port cities of Messina, Palermo, and Trapani. The last Greek chief minister, 'admiral', 'amir of amirs', amiratus amiratorum, was Philip of Mahdia (t 1153). By the time that Ibn Jubayr visited Sicily in 1185, Muslims wanting socio-political advancement were having to practice their faith in secret and naturallyrebelliousadolescent children weretiirowingoff parental authority by converting to Christianity. By the same period, the Greek community was waning and many of its monasteries were being abandoned to Latins for lack of Greek monks. Matthew is to be congratulated for producing thefirstreally judicious overall assessment of Norman rule in Sicily designed for undergraduate students in any language. His book should find a wide market, both among medievalists interested in the Mediterranean world and also amongst all those interested in interfaith relations anywhere. John H. Pryor Department of History University of Sydney McPherson, Kenneth, The Indian ocean: a history of people and the sea, N e w Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1995; 2nd impression; cloth; pp.x, 318; 14 maps; R.R.P. AUS$44.95. It is difficulttounderstand why this book has been re-issued, especially in a cloth-bound form. It is an interesting survey of the maritime history of the Indian Ocean from earliest known times to the twentieth century but is very 274 Reviews unsatisfactory in many ways. For medieval and Early M o d e m historians it is less useful than the works of K. N. Chaudhuri: Trade and civilisation in the Indian Ocean: an economic historyfrom the rise ofIslam to 1750 (1985) and Asia before Europe: economy and civilisation ofthe Indian Ocean from the rise of Islam to 1750 (1990). Medievalists will also find Janet AbuLughod , Before European hegemony: the world system A.D. 1250-1350 and Archibald Lewis, Nomads and Crusaders A.D. 1000-1368 (1988) more expansive and reliable on many aspects of the medieval history of the world of the Indian Ocean. The research is limited virtually exclusively to English-language materials, with just an occasional French or German work cited. Thus McPherson has not used M . Cortelazzo, ed., Mediterraneo e Oceano Indiana (1970) nor any Dutch or Portuguese works on die Indian Ocean shipping of those two nations. These are weaknesses which find reflection in die structures of the book. As McPherson wrote in the preface to die original edition (1993), "This history is unashamedly impressionistic, using a broad canvas to suggest a new way of viewing the peoples who shaped the human history of the Indian Ocean'. The problem, however, is that impressionism may be exciting for artists, but it does not make for good history, even on a 'broad canvas'. The book is too general in tone. One is continually treated to long generalized discourses lacking specific example and evidence. There are very few notes and most of those that there are do not give page numbers. The chronology is also confusing. McPherson ranges widely back and forth over the centuries in a disorganized fashion with fartoolittle precision. He is at his strongest when dealing with the Indie world of South and South-East Asia, and with both the pre-'historic' period and diat after the arrival of the Portuguese. He is at his weakest when dealing with...