Akihito KUDO

My research addresses the history of the modern and contemporary Mediterranean, mainly the relationship between France and North Africa since circa 1700. My first book, The Mirage of a Mediterranean Empire: French colonial Algeria during the nineteenth century (University of Tokyo Press, 2013), explored the intricate interplay between French colonialism and Algerian society, focusing primarily on legal discourse and its relation to geographical space. My second book, Voyagers between Both Shores: Ismayl Urbain and the Modern Mediterranean (University of Tokyo Press, 2022), was a collective biography of individuals who traversed the liminal spaces between Europe and Islam during the mid-nineteenth century. Alongside other projects related to Mediterranean history, I also have a broader interest in global circulation of goods and ideas, especially in the global coral trade since the early modern era.