{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.013610315186246419, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 4.88, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Book Review: The British Navy in the Mediterranean

Furthermore, it needs to be noted that the lack of a bibliography substantially limits the usefulness of the book for any future research in the field, and the very few footnotes provided for the individual chapters – at least by the standards of a scholarly book – reflect what has already been mentioned for the content. The footnotes for the first and second part provide access to the relevant literature, but the few footnotes for the third section are characterised by a complete lack of relevant fisheries history research publications of recent decades, with the exemption of one or two books. In the end, the book clearly reflects the fact that Fagan is an archaeologist and not a historian. It is strong in its coverage of prehistory, but becomes weaker as the narrative approaches the present. One wonders whether it would have been better to have focused the book solely on the prehistoric period and to have eschewed the attempt to provide a grand narrative covering the whole of human history. On the other hand, it should be acknowledged that Fagan provides a very readable narrative that will definitely help to engage historians that are not familiar with the field, and should help to acquaint non-academic readers with the field of fisheries history. Unfortunately, with the book written by a distinguished academic and published by Yale University Press, some readers will not immediately recognise that the book is following an approach more journalistic than academic. Do I recommend the book? The answer to this question is a yes and a no. It is a yes for those readers that are interested in a general overview of fisheries throughout human history, as an entertaining and also educational read. It is a no, however, for readers looking for an academic history, especially of post-medieval fisheries. While the first section might be useful and enlightening for the historian interested in prehistoric times the third section will be most definitely a disappointment, and anybody really interested in an overview of global fisheries history in modern and contemporary time will still need to dig up the respective publications written by a younger generation of fisheries historians, and published by lesser known publishers or in languages other than English. The global history of fisheries covering a grand sweep of time from prehistory to modern times still needs to be written, although Fagan’s work on prehistoric fisheries would doubtless be helpful to the author of such a book. It seems to be true that fisheries history is not only a niche sector, but such a small niche that even the most relevant publications in the field are overlooked when a mainstream archaeologist embarks on writing on the subject.