New from Oxford University Press:
Atlantic Wars: From the Fifteenth Century to the Age of Revolution by
Geoffrey Plank.
About the book, from the publisher:
In a sweeping account, Atlantic Wars
explores how warfare shaped the experiences of the peoples living in
the watershed of the Atlantic Ocean between the late Middle Ages and the
Age of Revolution. At the beginning of that period, combat within
Europe secured for the early colonial powers the resources and political
stability they needed to venture across the sea. By the early
nineteenth century, descendants of the Europeans had achieved military
supremacy on land but revolutionaries had challenged the norms of
Atlantic warfare.
Nearly everywhere they went, imperial soldiers, missionaries, colonial
settlers, and traveling merchants sought local allies, and consequently
they often incorporated themselves into African and indigenous North and
South American diplomatic, military, and commercial networks. The
newcomers and the peoples they encountered struggled to understand each
other, find common interests, and exploit the opportunities that arose
with the expansion of transatlantic commerce. Conflicts arose as a
consequence of ongoing cultural misunderstandings and differing
conceptions of justice and the appropriate use of force. In many
theaters of combat profits could be made by exploiting political
instability. Indigenous and colonial communities felt vulnerable in
these circumstances, and many believed that they had to engage in
aggressive military action--or, at a minimum, issue dramatic threats--in
order to survive. Examining the contours of European dominance, this
work emphasizes its contingent nature and geographical limitations, the
persistence of conflict and its inescapable impact on non-combatants'
lives.
Addressing warfare at sea, warfare on land, and transatlantic warfare, Atlantic Wars
covers the Atlantic world from the Vikings in the north, through the
North American coastline and Caribbean, to South America and Africa. By
incorporating the British, French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Africans,
and indigenous Americans into one synthetic work, Geoffrey Plank
underscores how the formative experience of combat brought together
widely separated people in a common history.
--Marshal Zeringue
About the book, from the publisher: