Power over Peoples: Technology, Environments, and Western Imperialism, 1400 to the Present

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Description

For six hundred years, the nations of Europe and North America have periodically attempted to coerce, invade, or conquer other societies. This title examines Western imperialism's complex relationship with technology, from the first Portuguese ships that ventured down the coast of Africa in the 1430s to America's conflicts in the Middle East.

Reviews

"Headrick destroys the simplistic notion that technological advances alone can explain the historic limits of Western global hegemony."--Choice "For professional historians--and especially for those dealing with the events of the early modern and modern world and with the progress of technical advances most of the latest book by Daniel R. Headrick might seem like a comforting walk through a very familiar landscape. The road's main twists come as no surprise, but it is good to see them yet again, surveyed with a macroscopic perspective that captures all important features and, here and there, highlights interesting details."--Vaclav Smil, American Historical Review "Daniel R. Headrick is right to think that insufficient attention has been paid to how technological change and environment shape imperialism, and his work is an excellent attempt to remedy that deficiency."--Peter Cain, The Historian "This is an interesting, clearly-written, and well-researched book. In an era of academic specialization, it is also attractive for its willingness to tackle one of the largest and oldest questions of world history. While technology is the theme, the author carefully frames and qualifies his argument so as to avoid the pitfalls of reductionism. While this book should find a place in courses on economic history, the history of technology, and the economics of imperialism, its accessibility should also make it attractive to the reading public."--Robert E. Prasch, Journal of Economic Issues "Headrick provides a magisterial and highly readable survey... The work is perhaps most eye-opening in describing conflict in regions often left out of more sweeping accounts--colonial expansion in sub-Saharan west Africa or Algeria, or conflict in southern Latin America... [T]his book will enable [historians] to understand the place of technology in broader narratives of change all the more effectively."--Paul Warde, Cultural and Social History

Author Bio

Daniel R. Headrick is professor emeritus of social science and history at Roosevelt University. His books include "The Tools of Empire" and "The Earth and Its Peoples".