Table of Contents

Series Editors' Preface
1. Imagining the Indian Ocean
2. The Ancient Indian Ocean
3. Becoming an Islamic Sea
4. Intrusions and Transitions in the Early Modern Period
5. The Long Nineteenth Century
6. The Last Century
Chronology
Notes
Further Reading
Websites
Index

About the Author

Edward A. Alpers is Professor of History, UCLA. He is the author, The East African Slave Trade, Ivory and Slaves in East Central Africa, The African Diaspora: A Global Perspective; co-editor, Africa and the West. A Documentary History from the Slave Trade to Independence.

Reviews

"Alpers...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...[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...[T]his is a valuable initiation for students to Indian Ocean studies...Highly recommended."--CHOICE
"...[A]n astonishing volume that distills knowledge accumulated about the Indian Ocean over centuries in about 146 pages rich in information and analysis."--H-Asia
"The Indian Ocean in World History proves to be an excellent source of information, especially in the emerging trend of 'new world history'...By taking a holistic approach to writing about history, the reader leaves with a rich sense of identity for the Indian Ocean and the people who have called the region home."--Education About Asia
"The author provides the reader a new perspective from which to understand the Indian Ocean within the context of world history. The theme that emerges strongly from this book is that oceans are not just barriers, but connecting barriers which have time and again proved their dominance in shaping the historical past."--National Maritime Foundation