Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference

Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference

ISBN-10:
0691152365
ISBN-13:
9780691152363
Pub. Date:
07/25/2011
Publisher:
Princeton University Press
ISBN-10:
0691152365
ISBN-13:
9780691152363
Pub. Date:
07/25/2011
Publisher:
Princeton University Press
Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference

Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference

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Overview

How empires have used diversity to shape the world order for more than two millennia

Empires—vast states of territories and peoples united by force and ambition—have dominated the political landscape for more than two millennia. Empires in World History departs from conventional European and nation-centered perspectives to take a remarkable look at how empires relied on diversity to shape the global order. Beginning with ancient Rome and China and continuing across Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa, Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper examine empires' conquests, rivalries, and strategies of domination—with an emphasis on how empires accommodated, created, and manipulated differences among populations.

Burbank and Cooper examine Rome and China from the third century BCE, empires that sustained state power for centuries. They delve into the militant monotheism of Byzantium, the Islamic Caliphates, and the short-lived Carolingians, as well as the pragmatically tolerant rule of the Mongols and Ottomans, who combined religious protection with the politics of loyalty. Burbank and Cooper discuss the influence of empire on capitalism and popular sovereignty, the limitations and instability of Europe's colonial projects, Russia's repertoire of exploitation and differentiation, as well as the "empire of liberty"—devised by American revolutionaries and later extended across a continent and beyond.

With its investigation into the relationship between diversity and imperial states, Empires in World History offers a fresh approach to understanding the impact of empires on the past and present.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780691152363
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication date: 07/25/2011
Pages: 528
Sales rank: 471,079
Product dimensions: 7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Jane Burbank is professor of history and Russian and Slavic studies at New York University. Her books include Intelligentsia and Revolution and Russian Peasants Go to Court. Frederick Cooper is professor of history at New York University. His books include Decolonization and African Society and Colonialism in Question.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Preface xi





Chapter 1: Imperial Trajectories 1

Chapter 2: Imperial Rule in Rome and China 23

Chapter 3: After Rome: Empire, Christianity, and Islam 61

Chapter 4: Eurasian Connections: The Mongol Empires 93

Chapter 5: Beyond the Mediterranean: Ottoman and Spanish Empires 117





Chapter 6: Oceanic Economies and Colonial Societies: Europe, Asia, and the Americas 149

Chapter 7: Beyond the Steppe: Empire-Building in Russia and China 185

Chapter 8: Empire, Nation, and Citizenship in a Revolutionary Age 219

Chapter 9: Empires across Continents: The United States and Russia 251





Chapter 10: Imperial Repertoires and Myths of Modern Colonialism 287

Chapter 11: Sovereignty and Empire: Nineteenth-Century Europe and Its Near Abroad 331

Chapter 12: War and Revolution in a World of Empires: 1914 to 1945 369

Chapter 13: End of Empire? 413

Chapter 14: Empires, States, and Political Imagination 443





Suggested Reading and Citations 461

Index 481


What People are Saying About This

Ronald Grigor Suny

This superb book redefines the field of empire and colonial studies. Careful not to reduce the complexity and variety of imperial experiences to fit a rigid or narrow definition, the authors find a fresh way to retell the story of empires, illuminating how they were maintained for such long periods, what made them, and why they collapsed. There is nothing comparable.
Ronald Grigor Suny, University of Michigan

Kenneth Pomeranz

This is the single best book about the relationship of empires and nations that I can think of.
Kenneth Pomeranz, author of "The Great Divergence"

From the Publisher

"This is the single best book about the relationship of empires and nations that I can think of."—Kenneth Pomeranz, author of The Great Divergence

"A major corrective to much of the literature about empire, this is destined to become a classic: it tackles a huge and topical theme, and moves at a fast pace, from Rome and Han Dynasty China, right down to the present. The coverage is sweeping and balanced. A stunning accomplishment."—Jeremy Adelman, Princeton University

"Timely and important, this book stresses the durability of empires from early times, across diverse historical eras, down to the present. The authors blur the line between the premodern and modern, and de-Europeanize history by stressing the importance of non-Western imperial experiences."—Robert Tignor, Princeton University

"This superb book redefines the field of empire and colonial studies. Careful not to reduce the complexity and variety of imperial experiences to fit a rigid or narrow definition, the authors find a fresh way to retell the story of empires, illuminating how they were maintained for such long periods, what made them, and why they collapsed. There is nothing comparable."—Ronald Grigor Suny, University of Michigan

Jeremy Adelman

A major corrective to much of the literature about empire, this is destined to become a classic: it tackles a huge and topical theme, and moves at a fast pace, from Rome and Han Dynasty China, right down to the present. The coverage is sweeping and balanced. A stunning accomplishment.
Jeremy Adelman, Princeton University

Robert Tignor

Timely and important, this book stresses the durability of empires from early times, across diverse historical eras, down to the present. The authors blur the line between the premodern and modern, and de-Europeanize history by stressing the importance of non-Western imperial experiences.
Robert Tignor, Princeton University

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