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Record Nr. |
UNINA9910813015103321 |
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Autore |
Smil Vaclav |
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Titolo |
Why America is not a new Rome / / Vaclav Smil |
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Pubbl/distr/stampa |
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Cambridge, MA, : MIT Press, c2010 |
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ISBN |
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0-262-28829-X |
1-282-54198-6 |
9786612541988 |
0-262-28388-3 |
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Edizione |
[1st ed.] |
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Descrizione fisica |
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1 online resource (239 p.) |
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Disciplina |
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Soggetti |
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Power (Social sciences) - United States |
Power (Social sciences) - Rome |
World politics - 21st century |
Comparative civilization |
United States Civilization |
United States Foreign relations |
United States Economic conditions |
United States Social conditions |
Rome History Empire, 30 B.C.-476 A.D |
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Lingua di pubblicazione |
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Formato |
Materiale a stampa |
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Livello bibliografico |
Monografia |
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Note generali |
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Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph |
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Nota di bibliografia |
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Includes bibliographical references and index. |
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Nota di contenuto |
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Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Part 1 America as a New Rome? -- I Nihil Novi Sub Sole -- Part 2 Why America Is Not a New Rome -- II Empires, Powers, Limits -- III Knowledge, Machines, Energy -- IV Life, Death, Wealth -- Part 3 Why Comparisons Fail -- V Historical Analogies and Their (Lack of) Meaning -- Notes -- References -- Name Index -- Subject Index. |
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Sommario/riassunto |
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An investigation of the America-Rome analogy that goes deeper than the facile comparisons made on talk shows and in glossy magazine articles.America's post-Cold War strategic dominance and its pre-recession affluence inspired pundits to make celebratory comparisons to ancient Rome at its most powerful. Now, with America no longer perceived as invulnerable, engaged in protracted fighting in Iraq and |
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Afghanistan, and suffering the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, comparisons are to the bloated, decadent, ineffectual later Empire. In Why America Is Not a New Rome, Vaclav Smil looks at these comparisons in detail, going deeper than the facile analogy-making of talk shows and glossy magazine articles. He finds profound differences.Smil, a scientist and a lifelong student of Roman history, focuses on several fundamental concerns: the very meaning of empire; the actual extent and nature of Roman and American power; the role of knowledge and innovation; and demographic and economic basics--population dynamics, illness, death, wealth, and misery. America is not a latter-day Rome, Smil finds, and we need to understand this in order to look ahead without the burden of counterproductive analogies. Superficial similarities do not imply long-term political, demographic, or economic outcomes identical to Rome's. |
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