Ivetic attempts to assemble a coherent story out of bits and pieces of history from the diverse lands adjacent to the Adriatic Sea. The author offers no particular thesis, except perhaps that the Adriatic should be seen as a cultural unit and that there is such a thing, if as yet unrecognized, as an “Adriatic civilization,” which, it seems, is the outcome of several millennia of interactions among the populations lining its shores. Ivetic mobilized vast learning in this project but, in the end, left me unconvinced that unity shines through the diversity around the Adriatic.
The research underlying the narrative is drawn from secondary sources in Italian, southern Slavic languages, French, German, and English. Ivetic has a wealth of archival experience behind him and cannot be faulted for the depth of his knowledge of the lands and histories of Adriatic peoples. He does justice to the many local particularities...