"Brilliantly contextualized and judiciously selected, this collection of documents is a magnificent and indispensable companion to The Sea in the Middle. The extensive number of primary sources provides a vivid road map to the Mediterranean's complex historical and cultural history between ca. 650 and 1650. An important achievement and a major contribution to Mediterranean studies." --Teofilo Ruiz, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of History, University of California, Los Angeles "This superb selection of texts offers students an invaluable first-hand encounter with how and why the Mediterranean was such a shaping force during this millennium of history. Texts from the Middle vividly brings to life a diversity of peoples from across the Mediterranean world, ranging from violent border lords, proud queens, officious bureaucrats, energetic business women, hopeful migrants, fiery polemicists, and enslaved Africans to disappointed brides, lazy students, and artful tax dodgers."--Amy G. Remensnyder, Professor of History, Brown University