David Abulafia leads a team of eight distinguished historians in an exploration of the facts, themes, and epochs of the history of the Great Sea: the physical setting; the rivalry between Carthaginians, Greeks, and Etruscans for control of sea routes; unification under Rome and the subsequent break up into Western Christendom, Byzantium, and Islam; the Crusades; commerce in medieval times; the Ottoman resurgence; the rivalry of European powers from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries; and the globalization of the region in the last century. With 150 color and 150 archival illustrations of art, architecture and archaeology. Published by the J. Paul Getty Museum.  (MED79, $29.95)