This is a major history of the Western Mediterranean world from the Fall of Rome to the present, exploring the development of social, economic and, especially, cultural life in the region. The book presents an innovative vision of the Mediterranean that builds on Ferdinand Braudel's monumental 'The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II' to integrate the most valuable perspectives from recent historical scholarship. The book also locates the Mediterranean sea and its surrounding lands in the larger context of world history, connecting East to the Levant, south to North Africa and west to the Atlantic World.