Synopses & Reviews
The Field and the Forge offers an innovative approach to the pre-industrial history of Europe and the Mediterranean basin from Roman times through to the Industrial Revolution. This wide-ranging analysis demonstrates how technology changed the scope of state and empire building, and explores why this scope was realized in the ancient world rather than the medieval west. This work not only considers the who and what of history, but provides a clear demonstration of why things happened.
Review
"The Field and Forge is impressively wide-ranging. Lander's comparisons come together cogently and provide useful insights into the relationships between the larger societies and technological variables. ...a thought-provoking volume in upper-level courses on the history of technology, military technology, demographics, historical geography, or economic history." --Technology and Culture
"Landers's prose is clear, and not overly encumbered with jargon. The author assits his readers by providing an exceptionally strong scaffolding of detailed chapter introductions, topical subsections, summaries, and conclusions.... His book is an ambitious and wide-ranging synthesis that is both thoughtful and thought provoking."--American Historical Review
"Consistently intriguing, informative, and thought-provoking, and the author's prose style ranges from very good to outstanding. All historians who teach or write about the broad sweep of European history should read this book."-- Military History
Table of Contents
1. Introduction - Time, Space, and Population
Section I: The Organic Economy and Demographic Space
2. Population Dynamics
3. Production and Technology
4. The Means of Transport
5. Trade and Traffic
Section II: Military Technology
6. Battlefields before Gunpowder
7. Gunpowder Revolution
8. Military Capital
Section III: Force, Power, and Space
9. War and the Organic Economy
10. Power and Space I: Expanding Control
11. Power and Space II: Maintaining Control
Section IV: War, Population, and Resources
12. The Cost of War: Manpower and Resources
13. Population, Production, and Technology
14. The Cost of War: Mortality and Population Loss
15. Spending, Taxing, and Borrowing
16. Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendixes