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Article: What a wait; An ocean in history; The Atlantic and its peoples.(Books and Arts)(Review)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- March 31, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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FACING THE OCEAN: THE ATLANTIC AND ITS PEOPLES.
EUROPE'S "Rimland"-the Atlantic seaboard from Scandinavia to Andalusia-was the launchpad of the European miracle. Long-range empires and globe-girdling trade started from here. Yet the miracle took a puzzlingly long time to happen. Europe's Atlantic-side peoples stuck to their shores for millennia, as if pinioned by the prevailing westerlies, before they began to reach across the ocean. Barry Cunliffe has scoured those aeons of under-achievement for signs of promise and hints towards an explanation.
Lapped by a single ocean, Rimland is shaped by common environmental features. Atlantic Europe covers a huge ...