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Daniel R. Headrick

Power over Peoples: Technology, Environments, and Western Imperialism, 1400 to the Present Paperback – March 25 2012

by Daniel R. Headrick (Author)

45 ratings

3.8 on Goodreads

122 ratings

Part of: The Princeton Economic History of the Western World (55 books)

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A major history of technology and Western conquest

For six hundred years, the nations of Europe and North America have periodically attempted to coerce, invade, or conquer other societies. They have relied on their superior technology to do so, yet these technologies have not always guaranteed success. Power over Peoples examines Western imperialism's complex relationship with technology, from the first Portuguese ships that ventured down the coast of Africa in the 1430s to America's conflicts in the Middle East today.

Why did the sailing vessels that gave the Portuguese a century-long advantage in the Indian Ocean fail to overcome Muslim galleys in the Red Sea? Why were the same weapons and methods that the Spanish used to conquer Mexico and Peru ineffective in Chile and Africa? Why didn't America's overwhelming air power assure success in Iraq and Afghanistan? In Power over Peoples, Daniel Headrick traces the evolution of Western technologies―from muskets and galleons to jet planes and smart bombs―and sheds light on the environmental and social factors that have brought victory in some cases and unforeseen defeat in others. He shows how superior technology translates into greater power over nature and sometimes even other peoples, yet how technological superiority is no guarantee of success in imperialist ventures―because the technology only delivers results in a specific environment, or because the society being attacked responds in unexpected ways.

Breathtaking in scope, Power over Peoples is a revealing history of technological innovation, its promise and limitations, and its central role in the rise and fall of empire.

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Part of series

The Princeton Economic History of the Western World
Print length

412 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Princeton University Press
Publication date

March 25 2012
Dimensions

15.24 x 2.54 x 23.5 cm
ISBN-10

0691154325
ISBN-13

978-0691154329

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Review

"Headrick destroys the simplistic notion that technological advances alone can explain the historic limits of Western global hegemony." ― Choice

"For professional historians--and especially for those dealing with the events of the early modern and modern world and with the progress of technical advances most of the latest book by Daniel R. Headrick might seem like a comforting walk through a very familiar landscape. The road's main twists come as no surprise, but it is good to see them yet again, surveyed with a macroscopic perspective that captures all important features and, here and there, highlights interesting details."---Vaclav Smil, American Historical Review

"Daniel R. Headrick is right to think that insufficient attention has been paid to how technological change and environment shape imperialism, and his work is an excellent attempt to remedy that deficiency."---Peter Cain, The Historian

"This is an interesting, clearly-written, and well-researched book. In an era of academic specialization, it is also attractive for its willingness to tackle one of the largest and oldest questions of world history. While technology is the theme, the author carefully frames and qualifies his argument so as to avoid the pitfalls of reductionism. While this book should find a place in courses on economic history, the history of technology, and the economics of imperialism, its accessibility should also make it attractive to the reading public."---Robert E. Prasch, Journal of Economic Issues

"Headrick provides a magisterial and highly readable survey. . . . The work is perhaps most eye-opening in describing conflict in regions often left out of more sweeping accounts--colonial expansion in sub-Saharan west Africa or Algeria, or conflict in southern Latin America. . . . [T]his book will enable [historians] to understand the place of technology in broader narratives of change all the more effectively."---Paul Warde, Cultural and Social History

"[T]his is a major contribution from an important academic built on decades of experience. I am a better scholar for having read it, and chances are that you will be too."---James Daschuk, Environmental History Journal

Review

"This is a major contribution to historical studies, as well as the study of technological change and economic history. Headrick asks a set of questions that are infrequently discussed, and analyzes them in an interesting way. This will be an important and widely cited book."―Stanley L. Engerman, University of Rochester

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 25 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 412 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0691154325
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0691154329
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 567 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 2.54 x 23.5 cm
Part of series ‏ : ‎ The Princeton Economic History of the Western World
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45 ratings

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David Williams
T. Twidible Bowen? Really!!
Reviewed in Canada on March 4, 2012

Reading this book, one has to question the thoroughness of its editing and proof-reading. We are told that (p.316) "Air Vice Marshal T. Twidible Bowen wrote to Trenchard". This is presumably Air Vice-Marshal Tom Webb-Bowen, who in 1928 was Air Officer Commanding Royal Air Force Middle East. The book's index does direct the reader to "Webb-Bowen, T.I., 209", but there is in fact no reference to Webb-Bowen on page 209 of the book. Curious!

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James-philip Harries
Guns, germs and landscape
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 31, 2010
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This is a history of European colonial expansion. With several centuries and continents to cover the story is inevitably broader than it is deep. Nevertheless, the author is always interesting and sometimes fascinating.
Jared Diamond's bestseller "Guns, germs and steel" covered much the same ground, but IMHO this is a better and better balanced book. Headrick emphasises the reverses as well as the successes, which give the lie to the idea of "manifest destiny" underlying Diamond's view of history. Disease resistance (or not) played as large a role in the advance of the frontier as military prowess, and many peoples adapted their tactics in war to hold the European invaders in check for upwards of three hundred years.
Headrick contrasts the rapid collapse of centralised states (the Aztecs, the Inca) with more "primitive" polities such as the plains Indians or the Auricanians in South America or the Afghans. He does not enlarge on an implicit question: were these indigenous success stories due also to the nature of the landscape? After all, indigenous empire builders must also have tried before, and failed.
One other small caveat, which naturally Headrick barely mentions. Overseas expansion was always seen by the Euopean powers as a side show. Their focus was always on Europe. So the Indian empire developed "in a fit of absent-mindedness" and not as a pre-ordained expansionary policy maintained over centuries. It might just look that way in hindsight. In fact, European governments more often acted as a brake on expansion. The role (mostly merciful) of the Jesuits is insufficiently applauded. The desire of the British crown that the American colonists contribute to their own security was perfectly reasonable, yet their refusal to pay tax created the US. The UK, meanwhile, didn't care enough to defeat the rebels.
Reading (and writing) history, it is easy to slip into the mind-set of the "just so" story. Just because it turned out that way does not mean it was planned or had to turn out that way, as Headrick acknowledges. European expansion was down to some pretty ripe individuals. Cortes would have been court martialled and hanged without his stunning victory. Clive of India started out as a clerk with few prospects, became a dab hand at training and bribing indians, won perhaps the most one-sided victory in history and retired, not to India, but to swank about the Home Counties as the first "nabob". Even the adventurers had their eyes firmly fixed on home.
This is a good book, easy to read and enjoyable. Its limitations are inherent in its subject. It could do with a few more maps, so keep an atlas handy to enhance your enjoyment.

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Eddie Choo
Technology not the only thing
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2017
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This is an excellent primer into the ways technologies are jot universal in subjugating peoples. Ultimately, people are often defeated by other reasons and technology is just one of them.

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Art
Good Stuff
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2015
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Good Stuff

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Bernardo Ibarrola
One Star
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2014
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OK

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