In the 2nd part of F. Braudel's monograph, a detailed picture of the life of Mediterranean societies is drawn, and its main aspects are described in detail: economic, political and civilizational. This is the largest section of Braudel's three-part work, the most rich in original material and most fully reflecting the author's historical predilections. In contrast to the 1st part, which describes the Mediterranean geographical environment, and the 3rd, devoted to “event” history, both stable social structures and the dynamics of various processes are explored here; Their detailed quantitative characteristics are given, and a unique view of Mediterranean civilizations is expressed.

CONTENTS: PART TWO. COLLECTIVE FATES AND UNIVERSAL SHIFTESECONOMICS: A CENTURY IN FIGURES 191. Space, enemy number one 19For those who write letters, how long do they take 20Scale of the sea: indicators of record speeds 22Average speeds of movement 25Details about the delivery of correspondence 28News as a luxury item 34Comparison with modern times 36Space and empires 39Three voyages of Claude du Bourg (1576 and 1577) 42Space and economy 43 Fairs, supporting economic structure 47 Local economic zones 52 Quadrangle Genoa, Milan, Venice, Florence2. Population 65World 60 or 70 million 65Desert lands of the Mediterranean 68One hundred percent population growth? 72Level and indicators of growth 74Caveats and conclusions 82Additional arguments and new directions of research 84Some statistics 84Another indicator: migration 883. Is it possible to build "model" of the Mediterranean economy? 91Agriculture, the main branch of the economy 93Industrial balance 101Verlagssystem and the rise of urban industry 105Prosperity of the system 107Itinerant labor 108The general rhythm of movement and its individual components. Volume of Trade Transactions 114Importance and Limitations of Trade with Distant Countries 118Concentration of Capital 121Total Tonnage of the Mediterranean Fleet 123Land Transport 126States - the Greatest Entrepreneurs of the Century 127Precious Metals and the Market Economy 130Did the Beggars Make Up a Fifth of the Population? 133Sketch of an income scale 137Nutrition is an inappropriate criterion: soup is always good for the taste of the authorities 139Are our calculations correct? 141II. ECONOMY: PRECIOUS METALS, MONETARY SYSTEMS AND PRICES 1771. Mediterranean and Sudanese gold 179Export of precious metals to the East 179Sudanese gold: precedents 182The Portuguese in Guinea: gold still flows into the Mediterranean 185The role of market conditions 190Sudanese gold in North Africa 1912. Silver from America 192Treasures of America and Spain 194Antwerp route of American treasures 197French Canal 202The Great Road from Barcelona to Genoa and the new orbit of American metal 205 The influx of Spanish coin in the Mediterranean 212 In Italy, the "moneda larga" reigns 215 The Genoese Age 220 Fairs in Piacenza 224 The Paper Age 230 Between the last bankruptcy of Philip II and the first - Philip III (1607) 2323. Rising prices 241 Complaints of contemporaries 241 The role of America 2 45Pros and cons 246Salary payment 249Land rent 250Banks and inflation 253"Industrialists" 258Rising prices and State 259Depletion of American Wealth 264Depreciated and Counterfeit Money 265Three Ages of Metals 270III. ECONOMY: TRADE AND TRANSPORT 2971. Pepper trade 297 Mediterranean revenge: the prosperity of the Red Sea in the second half of the 16th century 299 Levantine trade routes 304 New revival of the Portuguese pepper trade 309 Projects and transactions with Portuguese pepper 312 Offer of Portuguese pepper to Venice 315 Contract of Vel Zerov and Fugger: 1586-1591 318Preservation of the Levantine routes spice trade 320Possible explanations 3272. Stability and crises of the Mediterranean grain trade 329Grain 330Rules of the grain trade 331Sea transportation of grain 337Where grain was exported from 340Oriental grain 345Bread market between equilibrium and crisis 346First crisis: northern grain in Lisbon and Seville 348Turkish grain boom: 1548-1564 355Consumption of own bread: the situation in Italy between 1564 and 1590 359The last act: the importation of northern grain after 1590 365Sicily remains Sicily 369Bread crises 3733. Trade and transport: sailing ships from the Atlantic 3 73First wave of Atlantic ships : before 1550 374Basques, Biscayans and even Galicians 374Portuguese 376Normans and Bretons 377Flemish ships 380First sailing ships from England 380Period of prosperity (1511-1534) 381From 1550 to 1573 386Mediterranean provided to himself 386Return of the British in 1572-1573 389Anglo-Turkish negotiations 1578— 1583 392Successes of English navigators 394Situation at the end of the century 396Voyages of the Hanseatic and Dutch 397From grain to spices: the Dutch conquer the Mediterranean 398How the Dutch captured Seville after 1570 without firing a shot 404New Christians in the Mediterranean 410The Northern Invasion and the Decline of the Mediterranean 412IV. EMPIRES 4431. At the Origins of Empires 448The Greatness of Turkey: from Asia Minor to the Balkans 448Turks in Syria and Egypt 456A Look at the Turkish Empire from the Inside 458Unification of Spain: Catholic Kings 459Charles V 462The Empire of Philip II 466Case and Political Expediency 4702. Opportunities and Disadvantages of New States 4 73"Official" 473Transfer and sale of positions 482Local autonomy 486Finance and credit in the service of the state 4891600-1610: the time has come for middle states 497V. SOCIETIES 5091. Feudal reaction 510Seniors and peasants 511Castile: confrontation of grandees and titled persons with the king 515Hidalgo and regidors of Castile 522 Other examples 524 Leapfrog of the Turkish nobility 527 Çiftliki 5332. Apostasy of the bourgeoisie 535 Mediterranean bourgeoisie 536 Apostasy of the bourgeoisie 540 Nobility for sale 542 Hostility to the new nobles 5443. Poverty and robbery 546 Unfinished revolutions 547Class struggle? 551The fight against vagabonds and beggars 553The ubiquitous robbery 557Robbers and states 560Robbers and lords 565The growth of robbery 568Slaves 571Some conclusions 572VI. CIVILIZATIONS 5891. Mobility and stability of civilizations 590 Lessons from everyday life 590 How cultural values traveled 593 Interaction and confrontation of cultures 597 Has Greek civilization survived? 603Cultural territories and borders 604Example of a minor border: Ifriqiya 607Slow process of exchange and transmission 6092. Meetings of different civilizations 612Turks on the eastern plains of the Balkans 615Islam of the Moriscos 620Problems of the Moriscos 621Geography of Morisco Spain 623The drama of Granada 629Granada after Granada 632The supremacy of the West 6383. Alone against all: the fate of the Jews. 643Civilization in the full sense of the word 645Ubiquitous Jewish communities 653Judaism and capitalism 657Jews in a changing conjuncture 664In the context of Spain 6674. Outward diffusion. 672 Stages of the Baroque 673 Is it necessary to argue? 676Rome as a center for the spread of Mediterranean culture 676The second center for the spread of Mediterranean culture: Spain 681Once again about the decline of the Mediterranean 684VII. FORMS OF WAR 7071. War of squadrons and strengthening of borders 709Technical side of war 711War and the state 712War and civilizations 714Defensive war on Balkans 718 Venetian “limes” 719 On the Danube 722 In the middle of the sea: off the coast of Naples and Sicily 724 Defense of the Italian and Spanish coasts 729 On the shores of North Africa 730 Garrison towns as the worst choice 736 Pros and cons of punitive expeditions 739 Defense psychology 7412. Piracy as an auxiliary form of war 742Piracy, an ancient and widespread trade 743Urban privateering 747Corsair spoils 751Chronology of sea robbery 752Christian corsairs 752Christian robbery in the Levant 757The first era of Algerian prosperity 761The second era of Algerian prosperity 763Instead of imprisonment 767Ransom of prisoners 769One war displaces another 772VIII. INSTEAD OF CONCLUSION: CONJUNCTURE AND CONJUNCTURE 791Initial restrictions 791General trend 792Long-term fluctuations 796Conjuncture and bankruptcy of the Spanish government 797 External and internal wars 798 Conjuncture in general history 800 Short-term crises 801 List of illustrations 804 Typos noticed in volume I 806