Forged through fire : war, peace, and the democratic bargain Cover Image

Book

Forged through fire : war, peace, and the democratic bargain / John Ferejohn and Frances McCall Rosenbluth.

Ferejohn, John A., (author.). Rosenbluth, Frances McCall, (author.).

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."

Record details

ISBN: 1631491601
ISBN: 9781631491603
Physical Description: xi, 459 pages ; 24 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a Division of W. W. Norton & Company Independent Publishers Since, 1923, [2017]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

The twenty-first-century wars without citizen armies -- Part I: From antiquity to medieval times -- War and democracy in classical Athens -- The glory that was Rome -- A millennium of landed aristocracy -- Part II: Monarchy and other experiments -- 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 -- Part III: War and democracy -- The nineteenth-century pivot -- Twentieth-century wars of full mobilization -- War, racism, and civil rights in the United States.