16 h 6 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Can a captain stay neutral when the sea he loves becomes a battlefield?
Ulysses Ferragut knows the Mediterranean as a sailor and loves its history like a scholar. A captain and shipowner from the Valencia coast, he trusts that neutral Spain can keep him apart from the First World War. At home, his wife, Doña Cinta, and their son, Esteban, anchor his life.
Then Ulysses meets Freya Talberg in Naples. Charming and elusive, she moves through ports and hotels with unsettling ease. His desire for her draws him toward the conflict he wants to avoid. In Mare Nostrum, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez brings a family story, a dark love affair and war at sea into dangerous contact.
What you’ll discover
- A sea rich in history Sail waters shaped by Greeks, Romans and Phoenicians through a captain's curious, devoted eyes.
- Desire against duty Follow Ulysses as his longing for Freya clashes with loyalty to home and family.
- The strain of neutrality Face the question of conscience when keeping apart from war becomes harder to defend.
- Ports alive with intrigue Explore Mediterranean cities from Spain to Italy, where charm can conceal a hidden purpose.
- Room to look closely Settle into broad, vivid descriptions that give the sea and its shores their presence.
Who will love it
For readers who love sea stories, Mediterranean history and novels set in the shadow of the First World War. It also suits anyone curious about neutrality, conscience and loyalties tested by love.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Valencian family born to the sea
- A captain, a wife and a son
- A mysterious woman in Naples
- Neutral Spain and a war that will not stay away
- What the novel says about love, loyalty and choice
- How the book is told and what to watch for
Who’s who
- Ulysses FerragutA Valencian sea captain and shipowner who loves the Mediterranean and its history, and who wants to stay neutral in the war.
- Freya TalbergA charming woman of Austrian background whom Ulysses meets in Italy, and whose true purposes lie behind her grace.
- Doña CintaUlysses' wife, a loyal and watchful woman who stands for home and family while her husband is at sea.
- EstebanThe son of Ulysses and Cinta, the center of his parents' hopes and the link that ties the family to the future.
- Doctor FedelmannA German woman in Freya's circle, who works as an agent in the German spy network and says far less than she knows.
- Captain FerragutAn older seafaring relative who stands for the family's long tradition of life on the water.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Mare Nostrum
by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez · 1918
Ulysses Ferragut loves the Mediterranean, but a mysterious woman draws the neutral captain toward war.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Mare Nostrum is a novel by the Spanish writer Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, published in 1918 while the First World War was still being fought. Its title is Latin for our sea, the name the Romans gave the Mediterranean.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Valencian family born to the sea
The story opens in the Spanish Levante, the sunny coast around Valencia. The Ferragut family has produced sailors for generations. Ulysses Ferragut grows up among tales of voyages, storms and distant ports, and his name already ties him to the wanderer of Homer.
His father dies young, and the boy is raised by his mother and by the family's seafaring tradition. A mother's fear of the water hangs over his childhood. She would like to keep him on land, but the sea has already claimed him. As he grows, he learns the work of a ship from men who live by wind and tide.
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What is Mare Nostrum about?
It tells of Ulysses Ferragut, a Spanish sea captain who tries to stay neutral in the First World War. His love for a mysterious woman and his bond with the Mediterranean draw him toward the conflict.
What does Mare Nostrum mean?
It is Latin for our sea. The Romans used it for the Mediterranean, which they saw as a shared sea at the center of their world. The novel also uses it as the name of Ulysses' ship.
Who is Freya Talberg in Mare Nostrum?
She is an Austrian woman of charm and poise whom Ulysses meets in Italy. He falls in love with her, but her real aims are tied to the war and lie behind her friendly manner.
The author
Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
1867–1928 · Spanish novelist
Vicente Blasco Ibáñez was a Spanish novelist born in Valencia in 1867. He wrote Blood and Sand (1908), The Argonauts (1914), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1916), and Mare Nostrum (1918). He also worked as a journalist and politician. He died in Menton, France, in 1928.
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