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Cargando... Technology and War: From 2000 B.C. to the Present (1989)por Martin van Creveld
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Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. Martin Van Creveld's book on war and technology does not disappoint and offers plenty of food for thought. He divides human warfare into four ages: The age of tools (-1500), the age of machines (guns, 1500-1830), the age of systems (railroads, 1830-1945), the age of automation (computers, 1945-). While a fruitful approach, his focus on technology neglects political and organizational differences. The Romans and the Gauls might have used similar technology, their organizational systems made them very different. Creveld also does not discuss overlaps and collisions of different ages. The Zulu War, for instance, situated in the age of systems, was basically a fight between an advanced age of tools force and one of the age of machines. I wish others would expand upon van Creveld's ideas. sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
This cogent volume--the result of a five-year research project originally commissioned by the Pentagon--gives both general readers and military professionals alike a broad, comprehensive picture of technology's historical role in waging and winning war. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)355.009Social sciences Public Administration, Military Science Military Science Biography And HistoryClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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In this seminal work, Creveld examines the role of technology in the conduct of warfare, from ancient times to the post-WWII, post-nuclear era. He emphasizes that while military technology itself has certainly played a major role, civilian technology or quasi-military technology (better roads, sanitation, etc.) has likely played a larger role in the conduct of warfare. The book is an excellent read for both students of history and people concerned with the balance of geopolitical power in the post-nuclear, but especially post-9/11, world. As Creveld says..."Even more than the guerilla, the terrorist is limisted to weapons which are small, light, and easily hidden from the authorities' eye. During the millenia before 1600 the dagger was by far the most popular of these weapons, as in the case of the Sicarii who are mentioned by Josephus and who were named after it. During the 17th century, the pistol and the bomb, the former easily acquired and the latter easily manufactured, joined the list of terrorist weapons. Even so, for another 300 years that list remained comparatively small. It was only during the 20th century that technological advances made available a whole series of small, but extremely powerful, devices"
He continues, when speaking about how to counter terrorism: "...several conditions, however, must be met for this [effective anti-terrorist operations] to be possible There must be no reluctance to employ the normal surveillance apparatus of the modern state [emphasis mine]." This itself raises a whole can of issues relating to state surveillance and liberty, which we as a society are still grappling with to this day, and which has no clear-cut answer.
An excellent, exciting, fun, read. His bibliography is well-annotated as well, and I want to dig more in depth into some of his sources. ( )