Crowley spent some of his childhood in Malta, hung around Greece the summer after finishing school, and taught in Istanbul after reading English at Cambridge, and his enduring interest in the history of the Mediterranean shows in his first three books: Constantinople: The Last Great Siege/1453; Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World, a Sunday Times (UK) History Book of the Year in 2009 and a New York Times best seller; and City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas. Here he turns his attention to Portugal's entrance into the empire game—and cutthroat dominance of the spice trade—after Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route to India.

Crowley (Empires of the Sea) offers a play-by-play of how Portugal became the first European global power-empire. Starting in the late 15th century, this peripheral European country started amassing navigational knowledge that allowed its sailors to eventually round the tip of Africa and enter the cosmopolitan sea-trading area of the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese presence signaled the end of Muslim and Indian domination of the world's important sea-trade routes—and the beginning of European hegemony in it. Crowley's detailed investigation of how the country built up its empire follows the people and events that led to a shift in economic domination and hence, world power. The author explicitly shows the cultural misconceptions, miscommunications, technological superiority, and sheer hubris that resulted in a newcomer population dominating a majority one. Although aimed at those who enjoy their history filled with intricate details vs. overarching themes, this chronicle brims with larger-than-life figures and epic battles, both between men and nature. VERDICT This chronicle will be of interest to history buffs and a welcome read for those who appreciate accounts of naval battles, the European "Age of Discovery," and the history of marine travel and trade on the seas.—Laura Hiatt-Smith, Conifer, CO