Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 B.C.-A.D. 1000 by Barry Cunliffe - Essay Example

20 April Book Report: Barry Cunliffe is an accomplished European archaeologist whose work speaks volumes about his many talents and a deep insight. Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 B.C.-A.D. 1000 is one such critically acclaimed book which when published in 2008 earned Cunliffe widespread praise due to a wealth of valuable information it offers. In this highly interesting and captivating read, Cunliffe vividly recreates the entire image of early European history using all necessary tools to keep his readers engaged till the end. He digs with acute intelligence into European history exploring its many layers and revealing beautiful elements to the readers in the process. Cunliffe’s account of authentic and mystique European history is so enthralling, riveting, and has so many layers to it that one cannot help but feel like one is sitting in a cinema house watching one of the greatest movies of all time made about Europe. This is one of the most riveting aspects of this book that a simple reading transforms into a full-fletch journey complete with all the necessary embellishments required to keep a reader engaged throughout the reading process. In his book, Cunliffe starts from prehistoric times moving through the ancient to the medieval times. He views Europe as a highly strategically located continent owing to facing different seas from different sides. These seas have always played a phenomenal role in enriching the European civilization in terms of natural resources. There is a broad range of natural resources found in Europe which encourages a solid network of interaction and exchange among people. Many mechanisms of intricate complexity underlie the survival and development of the early Europeans. Cunliffe frequently draws on evidence from anthropology, history, and archeology to explicate these underlying mechanisms to the readers. The book proves itself to be a highly educational read as it expertly structures a completely new and enriched understanding of old Europe in a reader’s mind. As a skilled writer who has over a dozen books to his name in his resume, Cunliffe does not leave any details unexplored in this book also. His version of ancient history is almost cinematic. There is amazing photography in the book as well which serves to complement the archeological evidence presented by the author. This is not the kind of book which one can take and just read on the go. It refuses to receive ordinary treatment from a reader because many concepts do not properly diffuse through the brain unless a person properly concentrates on the book giving it his/her undivided attention. It is like a stay-at-home book, but one which sure delivers the promise of enriching one’s mind. This is because it presents a slightly different and more detailed version of the history of Europe which many people are not familiar with. Cunliffe entails movements of people across Europe tracking those movements to demonstrate to people how various lived and moved across Europe in old times. Upon opening this book, the journey begins the ancient times and people for a reader. It is expressed how the ancients used to see the world and how they measured time and space. The book also discusses what challenges they were faced with and how they overcame them to survive. It is the concept of three wavelengths of time which is borrowed by Cunliffe from French historian, Fernand Braudel, to explain how people from the ancient times perceived time and space. Three wavelengths of times as described by Cunliffe are longue duree, conjonctures, and l’histoire evenementielle. The top wavelength, longue duree, portrays geographic time like rising and falling landscapes which changes the land. The medium wavelength is associated with the movement of tribes and societies. Finally, the last stage is concerned with different important events of historical importance in which people participated and which hide all the general details about history which we commonly study in schools or colleges. This concept of three wavelengths of time is expertly used by Cunliffe and applied in the area of ancient European civilization. These three terms introduced by Braudel are frequently used by Cunliffe throughout the book because they keep resurfacing like ghosts. For example, he is seen using the medium term of conjunctures to describe movements of different people across Europe when he mentions several German tribes like the Huns which moved across Europe. Movements of these tribes created patterns which thousands of years later are scrutinized by experts like Cunliffe to explore history in more depth. The Huns moved along with other Asiatic tribes across Europe which helped to facilitate the network of trade of resources between the northern tribes in Europe and other empires. People often forget to attach much importance to the Neolithic societies, but Cunliffe mentions them considerably without overlooking them and hastening to talk about the first European civilizations, which is the case in many other books written on early European history. When talking about the Neolithic societies in Europe, Cunliffe reveals to his readers that these societies formed all over Europe in different areas instead of aggregating in one area. Another important thing is that these societies did not live completely detached from each other in anonymity. Rather, people from different Neolithic societies worked out ways somehow to interact with each other and make exchange or trade possible. They interacted with each other enough to facilitate trade which also resulted in many of them moving all over Europe. This movement of people from Neolithic societies for trade purposes left patterns which are now studied by archeologists like Cunliffe to track the movement of tribes and demonstrate trade routes used by them in those times. The beauty of Cunliffe’s account of the European history springs from the fact that he does not indulge in speculation to the point that the borderline between reality and speculation starts blurring. Rather, he takes an objective approach to matters. This does not mean that he does not speculate, only he lets his readers know what is speculation and what is authentic whenever an idea is presented in the book. It cannot be said that the author is completely above speculation because he himself takes a humble approach and admits that his speculation can also have its share of flaws. However, he is always very careful and conscious enough to separate speculation from fact. Many striking and novel ideas are provided in the book in an attempt to give the readers something new to chew on. Going away from the tradition of rummaging through same old stuff, Cunliffe challenges his readers to think about history in a completely different way. He convinces his readers to revolutionize their minds about the European history by mentioning ideas like maneuvering the maps of Europe and Asia. If the map of Europe and Asia is turned 90 degrees, Europe begins to seem more like a peninsula emerging from the continent of Asia. Cunliffe then progresses to describe movement or migration of people from Asia to this peninsula in a northern or southern direction. Asking the readers to turn the map of Europe and Asia sounds amazingly simple for an author of Cunliffe’s level, but it just shows how simplicity often harbors the biggest details which people keep looking for otherwise in more complex things. Cunliffe’s ideas in Europe Between the Oceans can be characterized as quite simple, but they reveal and give much food for thought. They urge people to change their conventional perspectives about important aspects of human history, particularly the European history. Normally, people only think of movement of people across Europe who already happened to be in Europe when the subject of the European history comes up. Cunliffe urges such people to broaden their minds. He stresses on the fact that besides movements of Europeans, people should also register mass migration of people from the Asian continent to Europe. The history of Europe becomes so much richer when this mass migration of those people is also acknowledged who desperately wanted to move out of the huge continent of Asia. When the map of Europe and Asia is turned, suddenly a whole new perspective pertaining to the European history emerges. This history then does not remain limited to migration of people around the European peninsula, but also encompasses migration from those who felt entrapped in Asia. Many archaeological sites and artifacts of monumental importance have been found to date. The book has included mesmerizing pictures of many such sites and artifacts from ancient and prehistoric times to give people an idea about what those times and people looked like. These pictures enable people to imagine at least about the experience of living in those times. They also help people to imagine what people in various times looked like and how they dressed. Pictures of these people and the places they inhabited tell people how as the wheel of time rolled on, the concept of class started to permeate the European culture subtly and gradually. There are some pictures which show multiple people used to live in burial chambers regardless of class differences. These chambers housed people from hailing from both higher and lower status. However, further pictures in the book suggest how with passing time people began to attach more importance to their class differences. People of higher social standing began to prefer something more stylized for themselves that would help to distinguish them from people of lower status. So, class became an important part of people’s lives in Europe as time rolled on. Many pictures also comprise of maps to help people ponder on them for various purposes. One can look at the pictures of these maps for either appraising the influence of some more powerful societies over others or for scrutinizing interesting trade routes set up by people from these societies among them. However, despite many accomplishments, Europe Between the Oceans can still not be considered a standard book on the European history and civilization which has left no room for further improvements or details to be uncovered. Truth is that there is always room for further improvements and always more details to be explored. Cunliffe has accomplished much through this book, but the journey does not stop when the book ends. Though a highly informative read, the book also seemed a bit dry to me at first which I am sure is how many other readers must have felt too. The reference section which the readers are recommended to go through is very lengthy and shows how many sources Cunliffe consulted to write this book. A good thing is that these references are not muddled with the text inside the book, rather they are left for the very end and aggregated in one big section. This section is too long for most people to digest and can in fact be read as a separate part of the book. Read More