Fire in the Minds of Men
Fire in the Minds of Men

Author: James H Billington

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-10-24

Total Pages: 694

ISBN-13: 1351519816

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book traces the origins of a faith--perhaps the faith of the century. Modern revolutionaries are believers, no less committed and intense than were Christians or Muslims of an earlier era. What is new is the belief that a perfect secular order will emerge from forcible overthrow of traditional authority. This inherently implausible idea energized Europe in the nineteenth century, and became the most pronounced ideological export of the West to the rest of the world in the twentieth century. Billington is interested in revolutionaries--the innovative creators of a new tradition. His historical frame extends from the waning of the French Revolution in the late eighteenth century to the beginnings of the Russian Revolution in the early twentieth century. The theater was Europe of the industrial era; the main stage was the journalistic offices within great cities such as Paris, Berlin, London, and St. Petersburg. Billington claims with considerable evidence that revolutionary ideologies were shaped as much by the occultism and proto-romanticism of Germany as the critical rationalism of the French Enlightenment. The conversion of social theory to political practice was essentially the work of three Russian revolutions: in 1905, March 1917, and November 1917. Events in the outer rim of the European world brought discussions about revolution out of the school rooms and press rooms of Paris and Berlin into the halls of power. Despite his hard realism about the adverse practical consequences of revolutionary dogma, Billington appreciates the identity of its best sponsors, people who preached social justice transcending traditional national, ethnic, and gender boundaries. When this book originally appeared The New Republic hailed it as "remarkable, learned and lively," while The New Yorker noted that Billington "pays great attention to the lives and emotions of individuals and this makes his book absorbing." It is an invaluable work of history and contribution to our understanding of political life.

Forging the Sword
Forging the Sword

Author: Benjamin Jensen

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2016-02-24

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 0804797382

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

As entrenched bureaucracies, military organizations might reasonably be expected to be especially resistant to reform and favor only limited, incremental adjustments. Yet, since 1945, the U.S. Army has rewritten its capstone doctrine manual, Operations, fourteen times. While some modifications have been incremental, collectively they reflect a significant evolution in how the Army approaches warfare—making the U.S. Army a crucial and unique case of a modern land power that is capable of change. So what accounts for this anomaly? What institutional processes have professional officers developed over time to escape bureaucracies' iron cage? Forging the Sword conducts a comparative historical process-tracing of doctrinal reform in the U.S. Army. The findings suggest that there are unaccounted-for institutional facilitators of change within military organizations. Thus, it argues that change in military organizations requires "incubators," designated subunits established outside the normal bureaucratic hierarchy, and "advocacy networks" championing new concepts. Incubators, ranging from special study groups to non-Title 10 war games and field exercises, provide a safe space for experimentation and the construction of new operational concepts. Advocacy networks then connect different constituents and inject them with concepts developed in incubators. This injection makes changes elites would have otherwise rejected a contagious narrative.

The Ethics of Anthropology and Amerindian Research
The Ethics of Anthropology and Amerindian Research

Author: Richard J. Chacon

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-12-15

Total Pages: 531

ISBN-13: 1461410657

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The decision to publish scholarly findings bearing on the question of Amerindian environmental degradation, warfare, and/or violence is one that weighs heavily on anthropologists. This burden stems from the fact that documentation of this may render descendant communities vulnerable to a host of predatory agendas and hostile modern forces. Consequently, some anthropologists and community advocates alike argue that such culturally and socially sensitive, and thereby, politically volatile information regarding Amerindian-induced environmental degradation and warfare should not be reported. This admonition presents a conundrum for anthropologists and other social scientists employed in the academy or who work at the behest of tribal entities. This work documents the various ethical dilemmas that confront anthropologists, and researchers in general, when investigating Amerindian communities. The contributions to this volume explore the ramifications of reporting--and, specifically,--of non-reporting instances of environmental degradation and warfare among Amerindians. Collectively, the contributions in this volume, which extend across the disciplines of archaeology, anthropology, ethnohistory, ethnic studies, philosophy, and medicine, argue that the non-reporting of environmental mismanagement and violence in Amerindian communities generally harms not only the field of anthropology but the Amerindian populations themselves.

United States Army Counterinsurgency and Contingency Operations Doctrine, 1860-1941
United States Army Counterinsurgency and Contingency Operations Doctrine, 1860-1941

Author: Andrew J. Birtle

Publisher: Government Printing Office

Published: 1998-04

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 9780160613241

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

NOTE: NO FURTHER DISCOUNT FOR THIS PRINT PRODUCT--OVERSTOCK SALE -- Significantly reduced list price U.S. Army Counterinsurgency and Contingency Operations Doctrine, 1860-1941, is the first of a two-volume study on the U.S. Army's experience in "small war" situations and the development of low-intensity conflict doctrine. Focusing on the suppression of insurgent or other irregular forces during overseas constabulary and contingency operations from the Civil War years up to America's entry into World War II, Andrew J. Birtle has filled an important omission in military historiography by writing about the underlying theories, concepts, and methods employed in the conduct of myriad unconventional missions with soldiers serving as governors, constables, judges, diplomats, explorers, colonizers, educators, administrators, and engineers. Even though official, codified, written doctrine for counterguerrilla, pacification, and nation-building activities prior to World War II has long been viewed as nonexistent, Birtle uncovers through his meticulous research an evidentiary thread of continuity in the Army's performance and thus maintains that some of the central principles governing such operations were indeed incorporated into official Army doctrinal literature. The events discussed unquestionably occurred long ago, but many of the issues raised by Birtle have enduring relevance for today's Army. People, places, and events may change, yet the fundamental questions involved in suppressing insurrections, fighting irregulars, administering civilian populations, and conducting foreign intervention remain surprisingly constant in this unpredictable world of ethnic tensions and turmoil. By studying how soldiers dealt with these complex issues in the past, Birtle's well-written account offers valuable insights to guide current and future soldiers when called upon to conduct similar operations. Miliatary starategists, historians, and civilians interested in America's early history may find this resource appealing and offer a better understanding of Army doctrine from a historical perspective. Related products: Mexican Expedition, 1916-1917 is available here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00600-6 Commerce Raiding is available here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-046-00282-7 From Transformation to Combat: The First Stryker Brigade at Warcan be purchased here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00459-3 United States Army in World War II, War in the Pacific, Triumph in the Philippines --Print Paperback format -- is available here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00503-4 Other products produced by the U.S. Army, Center of Military History can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/1061 "