Editor's Letter

An historical journal is almost invariably prefaced by the assertion of a credo. Essentially this Review is the result of a conviction that the Mediterranean region is a legitimate subject of historical research and debate requiring little, if any, defence; it is inspired by a penchant for the landscape – physical and human – of the Mediterranean world.
The encouraging, indeed overwhelming, response to the initiation of the MHR is no doubt indicative of the void, which it will attempt to fill. As Fernand Braudel observed in the preface to the first edition of his monumental work on The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, there is surely no region as well-documented and studied as the Mediterranean and the lands 'illumined by its glow'. The Review aspires to provide a focal point for this scholarly output.
In spite of the obvious differences in language, religion and the particular histories of the countries surrounding the Mediterranean basin, the structural unity and coherence of the region, and hence the comparable nature of its problems, cannot escape the attention of a student of history. The Review will therefore foster the study of issue whose significance transcends a particular area or even period of time, thus trying to integrate the history of the region throughout the ages, an approach which, hopefully, should be of interest to all Mediterranean scholars regardless of their particular period of research. Though not conceived as an interdisciplinary journal the Review will welcome, indeed encourage, contributions whose analysis of historical structures, events and processes also leans on other disciplines, notably anthropology, literature, and archaeology.
Though acknowledging the connection between history and geographical space, the Mediterranean of the historian cannot be identical to that of the geographer. Rarely entirely autonomous, the close proximity to other regions and cultures has always exposed it to outside influences, just as Mediterranean civilizations have left their mark on remote lands. Hence, the MHR does not propose to view the Mediterranean in isolation from the rest of the world. Aspiring to become the focal point for studies reflecting the internal movement of Mediterranean history, it also hopes to be a forum for those dealing with the mutual influences between the region and the outside world.
This Review, however, has no bias against l'histoire événementielle: 'Le bon dieu est dans le petit détail'. The particular events related to wider historical developments, the specific history of communities, the study of economic and other processes, and the analysis of social and political movements are no less a concern of this Review than their study from a comparative perspective.