As it turned out, materialist history did provide a very revealing perspective, but not the one Braudel anticipated. Quite the opposite. Among its many revelations was the unavoidable fact that Marx's assertions about history simply weren't supported by the facts. Over time, Braudel found his reverence waning. Eventually, his loss of faith turned into outright rejection. That said, were it not for Marx, Braudel's absolutely brilliant history may never have been written. And that would be a shame, since the materialist approach that Braudel pioneered has become more relevant than ever in our own data-driven age.
http://www.amazon.com/Civilization-Capitalism-15th-18th-Cent...
https://www.amazon.com/Civilization-Capitalism-15th-18th-Cen...
https://www.amazon.com/Wheels-Commerce-Civilization-Capitali...
https://www.amazon.com/Perspective-World-Civilization-Capita...
I strongly recommend these books.
If you're interest is more about the classical Western period, I recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Economy-Sather-Classical-Lect...