The Arabian Seas is a magisterial work on the world political economy (trade, war, power) that explores the intersect of the worlds of Islam (including South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and East Africa) and the European world economy (particularly the seafaring Portuguese, Dutch, and British) on the eve of the modern world system. It is likely to become a classic in its field, one of the pillars of the emerging literature in recent years that has begun to recast our understanding of the "early modern history" of Asia and the world economy. This work underlines the early and long predominance of Asia in the world economy and shows the long and deep tradition of European and Asian economic and military interactions. It centrally addresses current debates on the nature of the early modern world system and the relative strengths of East and West.

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