Background: Fernand Braudel (French: [bRodel]; 24 August 1902 - 27 November 1985) was a French historian and a leader of the Annales School. His scholarship focused on three main projects: The Mediterranean (1923-49, then 1949-66), Civilization and Capitalism (1955-79), and the unfinished Identity of France (1970-85). His reputation stems in part from his writings, but even more from his success in making the Annales School the most important engine of historical research in France and much of the world after 1950. As the dominant leader of the Annales School of historiography in the 1950s and 1960s, he exerted enormous influence on historical writing in France and other countries.
Context: His first book, La Mediterranee et le Monde Mediterraneen a l'Epoque de Philippe II (1949) (The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II) was his most influential. For Braudel there is no single Mediterranean Sea. There are many seas--indeed a "vast, complex expanse" within which men operate. Life is conducted on the Mediterranean: people travel, fish, fight wars, and drown in its various contexts. And the sea articulates with the plains and islands. Life on the plains is diverse and complex; the poorer south is affected by religious diversity (Catholicism and Islam), as well as by intrusions - both cultural and economic - from the wealthier north. In other words, the Mediterranean cannot be understood independently from what is exterior to it. Any rigid adherence to boundaries falsifies the situation. The first level of time, geographical time, is that of the environment, with its slow, almost imperceptible change, its repetition and cycles. Such change may be slow, but it is irresistible. The second level of time comprises long-term social, economic, and cultural history, where Braudel discusses the Mediterranean economy, social groupings, empires and civilizations. Change at this level is much more rapid than that of the environment; Braudel looks at two or three centuries in order to spot a particular pattern, such as the rise and fall of various aristocracies. The third level of time is that of events (histoire evenementielle). This is the history of individuals with names. This, for Braudel, is the time of surfaces and deceptive effects. It is the time of the "courte duree" proper and it is the focus of Part 3 of The Mediterranean which treats of "events, politics and people." Braudel's Mediterranean is centered on the sea, but just as important, it is also the desert and the mountains. The desert creates a nomadic form of social organization where the whole community moves; mountain life is sedentary. Transhumance -- that is, the movement from the mountain to the plain, or vice versa in a given season -- is also a persistent part of Mediterranean existence. Braudel's vast, panoramic view used insights from other social sciences, employed the concept of the longue duree, and downplayed the importance of specific events. It was widely admired, but most historians did not try to replicate it and instead focused on their specialized monographs. The book firmly launched the study of the Mediterranean and dramatically raised the worldwide profile of the Annales School. CANNOTANSWER
Question: What is La Mediteranee?

Answer:

His first book,