They invented the alphabet you are reading right now. They built the first maritime trading empire, connecting tin mines in Britain to cedar forests in Lebanon to gold markets in West Africa. They manufactured the most expensive luxury good in the ancient world -- Tyrian purple dye, worth more than its weight in gold. They founded Carthage, which would become Rome's most dangerous rival.

And almost nobody remembers them.

The Purple Merchants is a comprehensive deep dive into the Phoenicians -- history's greatest forgotten civilization. From their Canaanite origins on the narrow Lebanese coast to their Mediterranean-spanning colonial network, this book tells the full story of the traders, sailors, and engineers who shaped the ancient world more profoundly than almost any other civilization.

What you'll discover:

• How the Bronze Age Collapse set the Phoenicians free to dominate Mediterranean trade
• The alphabet revolution -- why twenty-two simple signs changed the course of human civilization
• Phoenician shipbuilding and navigation techniques that made them the ancient world's greatest sailors
• The economics of Tyrian purple -- the luxury brand that gave a civilization its name
• How Carthage grew from a Tyrian trading post into a superpower that challenged Rome
• The strategy of "profitable subordination" that kept the Phoenician cities alive under Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian domination
• The controversial evidence for child sacrifice at Phoenician sacred sites
• The alliance between Hiram of Tyre and Solomon of Israel that produced the First Temple
• Phoenician engineering: artificial harbors, glassmaking, and metallurgy
• What genetics reveals about the Phoenician diaspora across the Mediterranean

This book is for you if:

• You're fascinated by ancient civilizations that shaped the modern world
• You enjoyed Canaan to Carthage and want the full, expanded story
• You love maritime history, ancient trade, or the history of writing
• You want to understand why the most influential civilization in the ancient Mediterranean is also the most forgotten

From the author of Canaan to Carthage, Last Days of Carthage, Hannibal's War, Ancient Apocalypse, and The Hittite Empire -- Shane Larson's most comprehensive ancient history title yet.

Grab your copy today and discover the civilization that invented the alphabet, mastered the sea, and built the ancient world's greatest commercial empire.