By Brian Catlos, co-author of The Sea in the Middle: The Mediterranean World, 650–1650

We’re excited to share our forthcoming medieval and early modern world textbook, The Sea in the Middle, and the accompanying sourcebook, Texts from the Middle! Both books are expected to publish in Fall 2022.

This sweeping history of the medieval and early modern Abrahamic West, is the first textbook to fully integrate the history of the Islamic west and Europe. Centering on the Mediterranean region, our revisionist approach brings together the history of Islamic North and Central Africa and Western Asia with that of Latin Europe and Byzantium. Beginning with the rise of Islam in the seventh century and culminating in the contest of the Hapsburgs and the Ottomans in the seventeenth, the narrative emphasizes the role played by peoples and cultures of Africa, Asia, and Europe in an age when Christians, Muslims, and Jews of various denominations engaged with each other in both conflict and collaboration. It is ideal for medieval and Islamic survey courses and as a supplementary text for thematic courses.

Key features:

  • Fifteen-chapter structure to aid classroom use 
  • Sections in each chapter that feature key artifacts relevant to chapter themes
  • Dynamic visuals, including 190 photos and 20 maps

Texts from the Middle is the companion primary source reader to the textbook. It can be used alone or in conjunction with the textbook, providing an original history of the Middle Ages that places the Mediterranean at the geographical center of the study of the time period (650-1650).

Building on the textbook’s unique approach, the sources center on the Mediterranean and emphasize the role played by peoples and cultures of Africa, Asia, and Europe in an age when Christians, Muslims, and Jews of various denominations engaged with each other in both conflict and collaboration. The supplementary reader mirrors the main text’s fifteen-chapter structure, providing five-to-seven source selections per chapter.

These texts pair together to provide a framework and materials that guide students through this complex but essential history—one that will appeal to the diverse student bodies of today.

About the Authors

Thomas E. Burman is Professor of History at University of Notre Dame. He is a scholar of Christian-Muslim-Jewish intellectual and cultural history in the medieval Mediterranean. His book Reading the Qur’an in Latin Christendom was awarded the Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History. 

Brian A. Catlos is Professor of Religious Studies at University of Colorado Boulder. He works on Christian-Muslim-Jewish relations in the premodern Mediterranean. His most recent book Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain is available in eight languages and as an audiobook.

Mark D. Meyerson is Professor in the Department of History and Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. He works on Christian-Muslim-Jewish relations in the premodern Mediterranean and on the history of violence. His book A Jewish Renaissance in Fifteenth-Century Spain was runner-up for the National Jewish Book Award, USA.