{"podcast":{"title":"New Books in Military History","slug":"new-books-in-military-history-435149","podcast_index_feed_id":435149,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/TLBd5Iy4","website_url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/military-history/","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/adebe220-0377-46b7-a4c7-0b19a9c05667/085f7349-ec7d-4632-bcd8-0a0cb87a5aac/3000x3000/7c1e11e0eb67956c95a920d8b9325daf.png?aid=rss_feed","author":"New Books Network","episode_count":600,"summary":"This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history","last_synced_at":"2026-10-02T08:23:31.431756+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-military-history-435149"},"episode":{"title":"Travis Bruce, \"Constructing the Medieval Maritime State: Identity, Violence, and Connection in the Mediterranean\" (Oxford UP, 2026)","slug":"travis-bruce-constructing-the-medieval-maritime-state-identity-violence-and-connection-in-the-mediterranean-oxford-up-2026","published_at":"2026-08-23T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-military-history-435149/travis-bruce-constructing-the-medieval-maritime-state-identity-violence-and-connection-in-the-mediterranean-oxford-up-2026","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-military-history-435149","url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/military-history/","audio_url":"https://injector.simplecastaudio.com/adebe220-0377-46b7-a4c7-0b19a9c05667/episodes/c25a4834-db0f-4747-a253-eca9f1b8eedc/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=adebe220-0377-46b7-a4c7-0b19a9c05667&awEpisodeId=c25a4834-db0f-4747-a253-eca9f1b8eedc&feed=TLBd5Iy4","summary":"Constructing the Medieval Maritime State: Identity, Violence, and Connection in the Mediterranean (Oxford University Press, 2026) by Professor Travis Bruce explores how the small medieval kingdom of Denia in Spain became a powerful maritime state after the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate. Its rulers built authority, not only through war and seafaring raids but also by connecting Denia to wider Mediterranean trade, diplomacy, and culture. The rise and evolution of the taifa of Denia is a powerful case study for understanding the construction of medieval maritime states in the Mediterranean. Dr. Bruce situates Denia within the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate and explores how its rulers forged legitimacy through identity formation, maritime violence, and regional connectivity. Denia's identity was negotiated through rulership, unfreedom, and cultural hybridity, and violence — particularly predatory warfare and maritime jihad — functioned as both statecraft and economic extraction. At the same time, Denia's entanglement in commercial, diplomatic, and intellectual networks positioned it as a key node linking the Islamic Mediterranean and the Latin West. The state's trajectory cannot be reduced to narratives of decline or simple religious conflict but instead reveals a process of negotiation shaped by mobility, interdependence, and the fluid boundaries between public and private power. This narrative reframes Mediterranean history beyond Eurocentric paradigms and underscores the significance of Islamic maritime states within the wider medieval world. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Ango…","meta_description":"Constructing the Medieval Maritime State: Identity, Violence, and Connection in the Mediterranean (Oxford University Press, 2026) by Professor Travis Bruc…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2313,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-military-history-435149/episodes/travis-bruce-constructing-the-medieval-maritime-state-identity-violence-and-connection-in-the-mediterranean-oxford-up-2026/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-military-history-435149/travis-bruce-constructing-the-medieval-maritime-state-identity-violence-and-connection-in-the-mediterranean-oxford-up-2026.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}