The Black Sea and the Caspian

Situated between Europe and Asia, the Black Sea has for centuries played a key role in history and the power shifts between great empires, particularly the Russian and the Ottoman. Bordered by six nations, including Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, and Georgia, it is known for its murky waters and its anoxic depths, whose lack of oxygen has made it an archaeological treasure trove of preserved shipwrecks. One historian has called the Black Sea the "largest mass of lifeless water in the world."

David Abulafia, one of the greatest maritime historians and the award-winning author of The Great Sea and The Boundless Sea, shows in this new book, his final work, how the Black Sea's strategic location has long made it central to the history of Eurasia, and how the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has put it squarely in the middle of global attention and concern. Russia had already seized the Crimean in 2014, and with it the city of Sevastopol, and has sought control of the Black Sea to further its territorial ambition in the entire region. As Abulafia shows, the current war between Ukraine and Russia is an extension of a conflict over shipping routes and water access that goes back centuries.

The Bounded Sea will be the definitive book on this indispensable body of water, one that may be lifeless but teems with a rich history.