"In the mid-eighteenth century, most of the Mediterranean coastline and its hinterlands were controlled by the Ottoman Empire, a vast Islamic power regarded by Christian Europe with awe and fear. However, by the end of the First World War, this great civilisation had been completely subjugated, its territories occupied by European states. In Sea of Troubles, Ian Rutledge reveals how the Mediterranean -- the fault line between Europe and Islam -- became the most important centre of European imperialist rivalry. Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Austria-Hungary and Russia all wrestled for control of the trade, lands and wealth of this Islamic region. As rivalries intensified, events would spiral out of control as the continent headed towards war. This masterful, richly detailed account illuminates over three centuries of European imperialism in the Islamic Mediterranean. Sea of Troubles reveals the chain reaction of conquest and violence that culminated in the First World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire."-- Provided by publisher.