Synopses & Reviews
The early modern period (c. 1500-1800) of world history is characterized by the establishment and aggressive expansion of European empires, and warfare between imperial powers and indigenous peoples was a central component of the quest for global dominance. From the Portuguese in Africa to the Russians and Ottomans in Central Asia, empire builders could not avoid military interactions with native populations, and many discovered that imperial expansion was impossible without the cooperation, and, in some cases, alliances with the natives they encountered in the new worlds they sought to rule.
Empires and Indigenes is a sweeping examination of how intercultural interactions between Europeans and indigenous people influenced military choices and strategic action. Ranging from the Muscovites on the western steppe to the French and English in North America, it analyzes how diplomatic and military systems were designed to accommodate the demands and expectations of local peoples, who aided the imperial powers even as they often became subordinated to them. Contributors take on the analytical problem from a variety of levels, from the detailed case studies of the different ways indigenous peoples could be employed, to more comprehensive syntheses and theoretical examinations of diplomatic processes, ethnic soldier mobilization, and the interaction of culture and military technology.
Warfare and Culture series
Contributors: Virginia Aksan, David R. Jones, Marjoleine Kars, Wayne E. Lee, Mark Meuwese, Douglas M. Peers, Geoffrey Plank, Jenny Hale Pulsipher, and John K. Thornton
Review
“Empires and Indigenes offers a valuable perspective not only on the cross-cultural dimensions of early-modern warfare but also on the differing styles of imperial expansion. As such, this collection is a significant addition to the global history of the period.” “Empire and Indigenes needs to be read by historians, policy analysts, and military experts for important reassessments on intercultural warfare. With measured arguments, the authors challenge and qualify hallowed ‘truths’ of military and imperial history, such as the early modern military revolution or the easy defeats and subjugation of indigenous populations. This volume will surely mark a shift in how we understand warfare as a complex and contested form of intercultural engagement in empires.”
Synopsis
In this volume, Nobel Laureate James Meade discusses a set of radical changes in economic institutions and policies designed to show an efficient, socially acceptable third alternative between Keynesian inflation and monetarist unemployment, and between the inefficiencies of socialist centralism and the ravages of unrestrained capitalist competition. According to Meade, these changes should aim at allowing freedom of individual choice (liberty), producing a high standard of living (efficiency) and avoiding excessive divergences between riches and poverty (equality).
But there are inevitably clashes between these objectives. For example, free competition may promote liberty and efficiency but will offer high rewards to the owners of scarce resources and low rewards to those who command little earning power, resulting in the denial of equality. The author suggests a set of reforms which could mitigate the effects of such clashes. Such a review of institutions is highly relevant in the present age of social uncertainties. For example, on what lines should the post-communist economies of Eastern Europe be rebuilt? Can we avoid the stark choice between the inflation of Keynesianism and the unemployment of monetarism? Can the ravages of free capitalist competition be avoided without the inefficiencies of centralized economic planning?
Including an extensively revised version of Meade's well- known tract, Agothopia: The Economics of Partnership, Liberty, Equality, and Efficiency will be of interest to both economists and political scientists.
About the Author
J. E. Meade is Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Cambridge. From 1947 to 1957 he was Professor of Commerce at the London School of Economics, producing the work in international trade and payments for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1977. Since 1957, he has worked in Cambridge as Professor of Political Economy, as Senior Research Fellow at Christ's College, and finally in retirement where he has produced studies on a wide range of topics including economic growth, fiscal policy, distribution of income and wealth, and the control of wages and prices.
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