Forged through fire : war, peace, and the democratic bargain
Author
John Ferejohn and Frances McCall Rosenbluth
Imprint
New York : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a Division of W. W. Norton & Company, 2017
Descript
xi, 460 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
SUMMARY
"Is democracy dependent on war to survive? Peace, many would agree, is a goal that democratic nations should strive to achieve. Considering the question of whether democracy is dependent on war, two celebrated political scientists trace the ways in which governments have mobilised armies since antiquity. They find that our modern form of democracy not only evolved in a brutally competitive environment but also was quickly excised when the powerful no longer needed their citizenry to defend against existential threats. Bringing to life many of the battles that shaped our world, the authors show how centralised monarchies replaced feudalism, why dictatorships can mobilise large forces but often fail at long-term military campaigns and how drone warfare has weakened democracy. In the spirit of Francis Fukuyama and Niall Ferguson, Forged Through Fire has far-reaching implications and will become the centrepiece of the democratic debate." -- Publisher's website
CONTENT
The twenty-first-century wars without citizen armies -- War and democracy in classical Athens -- The glory that was Rome -- A millennium of landed aristocracy -- The emergence of monarchy in France and Spain -- War and representation in England, the Netherlands, and Sweden -- Italian republics -- Eastern lands in early modern Europe -- Mountain republics -- The nineteenth-century pivot -- Twentieth-century wars of full mobilization -- War, racism, and civil rights in the United States
