Power over Peoples: Technology, Environments, and Western Imperialism, 1400 to the Present (The Princeton Economic History of the Western World) - Hardcover

Headrick, Daniel R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691139334 ISBN 13: 9780691139333

Verlag: Princeton Univers. Press, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

A major history of technology and Western conquest For six hundred years, the nations of Europe and North America have periodically attempted to coerce, invade, or conquer other societies. They have relied on their superior technology to do so, yet these technologies have not always guaranteed success. Power over Peoples 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 today. Why did the sailing vessels that gave the Portuguese a century-long advantage in the Indian Ocean fail to overcome Muslim galleys in the Red Sea? Why were the same weapons and methods that the Spanish used to conquer Mexico and Peru ineffective in Chile and Africa? Why didn't America's overwhelming air power assure success in Iraq and Afghanistan? In Power over Peoples, Daniel Headrick traces the evolution of Western technologies-from muskets and galleons to jet planes and smart bombs-and sheds light on the environmental and social factors that have brought victory in some cases and unforeseen defeat in others. He shows how superior technology translates into greater power over nature and sometimes even other peoples, yet how technological superiority is no guarantee of success in imperialist ventures-because the technology only delivers results in a specific environment, or because the society being attacked responds in unexpected ways. Breathtaking in scope, Power over Peoples is a revealing history of technological innovation, its promise and limitations, and its central role in the rise and fall of empire.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

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.

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"This is a major contribution to historical studies, as well as the study of technological change and economic history. Headrick asks a set of questions that are infrequently discussed, and analyzes them in an interesting way. This will be an important and widely cited book."--Stanley L. Engerman, University of Rochester

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"This is a major contribution to historical studies, as well as the study of technological change and economic history. Headrick asks a set of questions that are infrequently discussed, and analyzes them in an interesting way. This will be an important and widely cited book."--Stanley L. Engerman, University of Rochester

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POWER OVER PEOPLES

TECHNOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTS, AND WESTERN IMPERIALISM, 1400 TO THE PRESENTBy DANIEL R. HEADRICK

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

Copyright © 2010 Princeton University Press
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-691-13933-3

Contents

Acknowledgments..............................................................................ixIntroduction Imperialism and Technology.....................................................1On Imperialism...............................................................................1On Technology................................................................................3The Goal and Organization of This Book.......................................................6Chapter 1 The Discovery of the Oceans, to 1779..............................................11Five Seafaring Traditions....................................................................11The Portuguese and the Ocean.................................................................20Navigation...................................................................................27The Spanish Voyages..........................................................................32Completing the Map of the Oceans.............................................................41Conclusion...................................................................................50Notes........................................................................................51Chapter 2 Eastern Ocean Empires, 1497-1700..................................................59The Portuguese in the Indian Ocean...........................................................59The Ottoman Challenge........................................................................68The Limits of Portuguese Power...............................................................74The Dutch and the English in the Indian Ocean................................................79China, Japan, and the Europeans..............................................................84Conclusion...................................................................................87Notes........................................................................................89Chapter 3 Horses, Diseases, and the Conquest of the Americas, 1492-1849.....................95The First Encounter: The Caribbean...........................................................96The Conquest of Mexico.......................................................................101Peru and Chile...............................................................................112Argentina and North America..................................................................118Disease and Demography.......................................................................123Conclusion...................................................................................131Notes........................................................................................132Chapter 4 The Limits of the Old Imperialism: Africa and Asia to 1859........................139Sub-Saharan Africa to 1830...................................................................139India to 1746................................................................................147The Military Revolution......................................................................151Plassey and After............................................................................154Reaching the Limit: Afghanistan and the Punjab...............................................158Reaching the Limit: Algeria, 1830-1850.......................................................163Russia and the Caucasus......................................................................167Conclusion...................................................................................169Notes........................................................................................170Chapter 5 Steamboat Imperialism, 1807-1898..................................................177Steamboats in North America..................................................................179Steamers in South Asia.......................................................................186Routes to India..............................................................................188The Euphrates Route..........................................................................191The Red Sea Route............................................................................194Britain and China............................................................................197The Nemesis..................................................................................200Steamboats on the Niger......................................................................206Steamboats and the Scramble for Africa.......................................................212Conclusion...................................................................................216Notes........................................................................................217Chapter 6 Health, Medicine, and the New Imperialism, 1830-1914..............................226Medicine and Africa in the Early Nineteenth Century..........................................226The Discovery of Quinine Prophylaxis.........................................................229Public Health at Mid-Century.................................................................234From Empirical to Scientific Medicine........................................................237Science and Tropical Diseases................................................................239Health and Empire at the Turn of the Century.................................................243Conclusion...................................................................................249Notes........................................................................................251Chapter 7 Weapons and Colonial Wars, 1830-1914..............................................257The Gun Revolution...........................................................................257Guns in Africa...............................................................................265The Scramble for Africa......................................................................269North America................................................................................276Argentina and Chile..........................................................................284Ethiopia.....................................................................................289Conclusion...................................................................................291Notes........................................................................................292Chapter 8 The Age of Air Control, 1911-1936.................................................302The Beginnings of Aviation...................................................................303Early Colonial Air Campaigns.................................................................306Great Britain in Iraq........................................................................311Air Control in Action........................................................................314Spain in the Rif.............................................................................321Italy in Africa..............................................................................324Conclusion...................................................................................327Notes........................................................................................329Chapter 9...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Princeton Univers. Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0691139334
• ISBN 13: 9780691139333
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 416
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Princeton University Press; https://press.princeton.edu/books; ; 7th Floor, New South Building; PRINCETON; NJ; 8544; USA
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