When the book was first published in Catalan a few months ago The struggle for control of the Mediterranean. The great Catalan expansion from 1200 to 1500 (Sails and Winds), the British historian David Abulafia explained that he was writing a great deal. He wanted to publish a new book and delve deeper into the history of the Kingdom of Majorca. He was passionate about the history of the medieval Mediterranean. In a interview on the ARAHe recalled that his interest had begun in primary school. "I was captivated by the Crusades, but my teacher refused to discuss them. At Cambridge, I was able to delve deeper and realized that what attracted me was the Mediterranean. I spent a long time in Italy. Historiography didn't pay much attention to the south and Sicily, but I wanted to study from south to south, inevitably leading me to the Catalan world, through the Catalan-Aragonese conquest of Sicily and Sardinia," explained the historian, who died suddenly yesterday, Sunday, at his home in Oxford at the age of 76. Professor Emeritus of Mediterranean History at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of the British Academy and the Royal Historical Society, Abulafía dedicated his career to exploring the complex political, economic, and cultural interaction between Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the medieval Mediterranean. He never lost his curiosity or his eagerness to understand the history of this region and that period. He delved deeply into the history of the Catalan-Aragonese Crown, was a great admirer of the work of Ramon Llull, and had a thorough knowledge of the four great chronicles (the collection of texts formed by the Book of the deeds of James I the Conqueror, he Book of the king in Pere by Bernat Desclot, the Chronicle of Ramon Muntaner and the Chronicle of Peter the Ceremonious"The development of a vernacular culture represented in those four great chronicles is remarkable; they are like the Bible of Catalan history. Ferran Soldevila produced a beautiful edition, with a leather binding, very fine paper, and two columns, just like a Bible. It's not the edition most used today, but it was especially prevalent during the Franco regime." Abulafía.