Rusq vol. 9, no. (Winter 2019)

The World’s Oceans: Geography, History, and Environ-
ment.
Edited by Rainer F. Buschmann and Lance Nolde. 
Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2018. 434 p. Acid-free $94 
(ISBN 978-1-4408-4351-8). E-book Available (978-1-4408-
4352-5), call for pricing.
“Moving the world’s oceans to a central role, from the 
role of empty space between the continents” (p. ix-x) and a 
goal of “uniting research in natural and social sciences with 
the humanities under an overarching theme of history” (p. 
X), as described in the introduction, are perhaps not what 
one might anticipate from the title, in which history is 
sandwiched between more science-based topics. Still, this 
work may serve to broaden the perspective students who 
are predominantly engaged by either the humanities or by 
the sciences.
The first section of the book is a set of thematic essays 
starting with the oceans in alphabetical order followed by 
a selection of issues shared by all of those regions in no 
discernable order. This feels more valuable as a collection 
of essays than as a reference work. The second section of 
the book comprises alphabetical topical entries. These are 
generally well written, interesting, and enhanced by cross-
references. The authors acknowledge the constraints placed 
on the range of topics by the one-volume format. This is a 
constraint for potential purchasers to keep in mind as well 
since it limits breadth and depth. 
The two references in the essay “Music and Seafarers” (p. 
310–13) to specific versions of songs, as if the reader could 
see them, are a bit concerning: “In the following version…,” 
for example, does not appear to be followed by any version of 
any song. This is a minor flaw as it does not reflect a lack of 
editorial attention overall. The indexing is fair, but the first 
section especially would benefit from greater thoroughness 
and detail. There is no distinction in the indexing between 
minor and major references, nor for the presence of images. 
Figures and images are sparse, and all are black and white. 
Lists of further reading throughout support its value as a 
reference work, though the sources listed are of somewhat 
uneven quality.
Comparable works largely are of more limited scope, 
geographically or topically, are not focused on history, or are 
not reference works. 
The Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences, 
3rd 
edition, edited by Cochran, Bokuniewicz, and Yaeger (Aca-
demic Press, 2019) retains its place as one of the preeminent 
reference works on oceans, but at $3,750, it is a much larger 
investment. It emphasizes sciences, as the name suggests, 
with history and other subjects in a supporting role. Current 
historical works about oceans are not scarce, but most or all 
are not reference works and place substantially less emphasis 
on natural and social sciences. Cunliffe’s 
On the Ocean: the 
Mediterranean and the Atlantic 
(Oxford, 2017) is limited in 
scope geographically and incorporates natural sciences only 
as needed. The images are colorful, generous, and engaging, 
and the glossary and index are strong, but the further read-
ing is stashed away in the back where readers must actively 
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