Power over Peoples : Technology, Environments, and Western Imperialism, 1400 to the Present / / Daniel R. Headrick

• Autore: Headrick Daniel R.
• Pubblicazione: Princeton, NJ : , : Princeton University Press, , [2012]; ©2009
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (416 p.)
• Disciplina: 325.32
• Soggetto topico: Imperialism - History; Technology - History; Military weapons - History
• Classificazione: MZ 6600
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Front matter -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. Imperialism and Technology -- Chapter 1. The Discovery of the Oceans, to 1779 -- Chapter 2. Eastern Ocean Empires, 1497-1700 -- Chapter 3. Horses, Diseases, and the Conquest of the Americas, 1492-1849 -- Chapter 4. The Limits of the Old Imperialism: Africa and Asia to 1859 -- Chapter 5. Steamboat Imperialism, 1807-1898 -- Chapter 6. Health, Medicine, and the New Imperialism, 1830-1914 -- Chapter 7. Weapons and Colonial Wars, 1830-1914 -- Chapter 8. The Age of Air Control, 1911-1936 -- Chapter 9. The Decline of Air Control, 1946-2007 -- Conclusion. Technology and Imperialism Redux -- Notes -- For Further Reading -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: 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 1430's 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. Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.
• Altri titoli varianti: Technology, environments, and Western imperialism, 1400 to the present
• Titolo autorizzato: Power over peoples
• ISBN: 1-4008-3359-0
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 996248322403316
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. di Salerno
• Serie: Princeton economic history of the Western world.