Military engineering Books

Book SynopsisRenowned historian Max Hastings recreates one of the most thrilling events of World War II: Operation Pedestal, the British action to save its troops from starvation on Malta—an action-packed tale of courage, fortitude, loss, and triumph against all odds.In 1940, Hitler had two choices when it came to the Mediterranean region: stay out, or commit sufficient forces to expel the British from the Middle East. Against his generals’ advice, the Fuhrer committed a major strategic blunder. He ordered the Wehrmacht to seize Crete, allowing the longtime British bastion of Malta to remain in Allied hands. Over the fall of 1941, the Royal Navy and RAF, aided by British intelligence, used the island to launch a punishing campaign against the Germans, sinking more than 75 percent of their supply ships destined for North Africa.But by spring 1942, the British lost their advantage. In April and May, the Luftwaffe dropped more bombs on Malta than London

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Book SynopsisAgain and again, American taxpayers are asked to open their wallets and pay for a national security machine that costs $1 trillion operate. Yet time and time again, the US government gets it wrong on critical issues. So what can be done? Enter bestselling author Thom Shanker and defense expert Andrew Hoehn. With decades of national security expertise between them and access to virtually every expert, they look at what''s going wrong in national security and how to make it go right.Age of Danger looks at the major challenges facing America-from superpowers like Russia and China to emerging threats like pandemics, cybersecurity, climate change, and drones-and reimagines the national security apparatus into something that can truly keep Americans safe. Weaving together expert analysis with exclusive interviews from a new generation of national security leaders, Shanker and Hoehn argue that the United States must create an industrial-grade, life-saving machine out

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Book SynopsisThis book is a collection of papers given at the sixth biennial conference at the University of Reading held in March 2006, and is the fourth in the series Modern Studies in Property Law. The Reading conference has become well-known as a unique opportunity for property lawyers to meet and confer both formally and informally. This volume is a refereed and revised selection of the papers given there. It covers a broad range of topics of immediate importance, not only in domestic law but also on a worldwide scale.Table of ContentsI - Keynote Address 1. Reforming Housing Law: A Progress Report Martin Partington II - Law and Equity 2. Equitable Co-ownership: Proprietary Rights in Name Only? Martin Dixon 3. Why is the Law of Undue Influence so Hard to Understand and Apply? Graham Ferris 4. The Lie of the Land: Mortgage Law as Legal Fiction Gary Watt 5. Curbing the Enthusiasm of Finders Robin Hickey 6. Leases: Rethinking Possession against Vulnerable Groups Warren Barr 7. Reconciling Property Law and Social Security Law: Same Concepts, Different Meanings? Nicholas Hopkins and Emma Laurie III - Possession of Land 8. The Acquisition of Rights in Property by the Effluxion of Time Amy Goymour 9. An Adjudication Rule for Encroachment Disputes: Adverse Possession or a Building Encroachment Statute? Pamela O’Connor 10. de Soto Discovers the Prairies:Of Squatters and the Canadian West Bruce Ziff and Sean Ward IV - Property, Empire and Indigenous Title 11. Land Law and the Making of the British Empire Patrick McAuslan 12. Translating Native Title to Individual ‘Title’ in Australia: Are Real Property Forms and Indigenous Interests Reconcilable? Lee Godden and Maureen Tehan 13. Individual Title versus Collective Title in Australia: Reflections on the North American and New Zealand Experiences of Indigenous Title to Land M A Stephenson

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Book SynopsisInsecure Gulf examines how the concept of Arabian/Persian Gulf 'security' is evolving in response to new challenges that are increasingly non-military and longer-term. Food, water and energy security, managing and mitigating the impact of environmental degradation and climate change, addressing demographic pressures and the youth bulge and reformulating structural economic deficiencies, in addition to dealing with the fallout from progressive state failure in Yemen, require a broad, global and multi-dimensional approach to Gulf security. While 'traditional' threats from Iraq, Iran, nuclear proliferation and trans-national terrorism remain robust, these new challenges to Gulf security have the potential to strike at the heart of the social contract and redistributive mechanisms that bind state and society in the Arab oil monarchies. Consequently, Insecure Gulf explores the relationship between 'traditional' and 'new' security challenges and situates it within the changing political economy of the GCC states as they move at varying speeds toward post-oil structures of governance. It describes how regimes are anticipating and reacting to the shifting security paradigm, and contextualises these changes within the broader political, economic, social and demographic framework. It also argues that a holistic approach to security is necessary for regimes to renew their sources of legitimacy in a globalising world.Trade Review'Insecure Gulf' provides the first detailed assessment of the developments in the Persian Gulf sub-region in the post-oil era. It is the one of the few books of its kind not to be obsessed with the sub-region's energy riches, and in looking to highlight the uncertainties of a future from which oil income may not provide sufficient protection, warns of the sub-region's impending demographic, economic and environmental crises. Sympathetically written and meticulously researched, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen draws our attention to the dangers of a perfect storm forming in the Gulf Arab countries in which domestic challenges could combine with externally-induced security or economic shocks to expose these societies to crises of such magnitude that could test their very socio-political foundations. This is a must read. -- Anoush Ehteshami, Professor of International Relations at Durham UniversityKristian Coates Ulrichsen's absorbing book is rich in detail and profoundly incisive. It is brilliant in its analysis and masterful in scope, tackling the most important and toughest questions on security in the Gulf region. Fascinating, fluently written and insightful, 'Insecure Gulf' offers a genuinely original perspective on this important subject. This is compulsory and highly engaging reading. -- Dr Steven Wright, Department of International Affairs, Qatar University'Insecure Gulf' offers a broad-ranging yet consistently cogent survey of the major trends that threaten the stability of the Arab Gulf states at the present moment and in the foreseeable future. It highlights not only the concrete, material challenges that confront regimes in this part of the world but also the ideational dynamics that shape how strategic realities get interpreted and prioritized. And the book accomplishes this while remaining accessible to non-specialists. An enlightening tour d'horizon. -- Fred H. Lawson, Professor of Government, Mills College

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Book SynopsisAs the People's Republic's seemingly inexorable rise to economic and military power con-tinues, never has the need for a better grasp of Chinese strategic thought by the West been more acute. In Deciphering Sun Tzu, Derek Yuen seeks to reclaim for the reader the hidden contours and lost Chinese and Taoist con- texts of Sun Tzu's renowned treatise The Art of War, a literary classic and arguably one of the most influential books ever written. He also explains its historical, philosophical, strategic, and cross-cultural significance. His comprehensive analysis of Sun Tzu, based on close reading of the Chinese sources, also reconstructs the philosophy, Taoist methodology and worldview that effectively form the cornerstones of Chinese strategic thinking, which are arguably as relevant today as at any moment in history. Yuen's innovative reading and analysis of Sun Tzu within and from a Chinese context is a new way of approaching the strategic mas- ter's main concepts, which he compares with those of Clausewitz, Liddell-Hart and other Western strategists.Deciphering Sun Tzu offers illuminating analysis and contextualisation of The Art of War in a manner that has long been sought by Western readers and opens new means of getting to grips with Chinese strategic thought.Trade Review'Deciphering Sun Tzu is by far the best book on the subject in years. ... Yuen argues that the only way to read Sun Tzu is to understand the philosophical, historical, and cultural context behind The Art of War. ... Yuen's work reveals that Sun Tzu's treatise needs to be seen in the context of statecraft as a broader cultural artifact rather than in the narrower context of war or strategy'. -- Rob Johnson, Director of the Changing Character of War Programme, Oxford University, in The American Interest'Yuen puts Sun Tzu in context, identifying his debts to Chinese philosophy (particularly Taoism), providing historical background, guiding the reader through the key themes in his work, explaining common interpretations of it, and detailing its reception in the West. Yuen presents Sun Tzu's view of strategic thought as holistic and nonlinear. This is not a book for the faint-hearted or for those skeptical about Sun Tzu's approach to strategy. But anyone who wishes to understand Sun Tzu should not ignore it.' -- Lawrence Freedman, Foreign Affairs'Taking the oldest and most enigmatic of military texts Derek Yuen boldly confronts questions of philosophy and strategic culture as no other contemporary interpreter of Sun Tzu has done before. In a quite extraordinary work of erudition he demonstrates both the continuing significance of The Art of War in Chinese thinking and why our continuing misreading of the text is proving so damaging to our understanding of Chinese thinking.' -- Christopher Coker, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science, and author of The Improbable War: China, the US and the Logic of Great Power Conflict'Derek Yuen has produced a fascinating re-interpretation of Sun Tzu. He casts a wide philosophical-cultural net in his quest to capture the essence of this timeless Chinese classic of strategy.' -- Andrew Scobell, Senior Political Scientist, RAND Corporation and author of China's Use of Military Force: Beyond the Great Wall and the Long March'Derek Yuen's exciting new book takes Sun Tzu studies to a new level. It goes beyond the existing translations of and commentaries on this canonical text to deploy its underlying, unique logic as it evolved through Daoist philosophy to serve as a foundation for developing a more comprehensive theory of strategic thought. It is a bold and profoundly philosophical attempt to rise above the familiar rationalisations of this antique text to register its seminal contribution to the holistic nature of Chinese thinking in its broadest sense.' -- Roger T. Ames, Professor of Philosophy, Center for Chinese Studies, University of Hawaii'Reading Deciphering Sun Tzu: How to Read the Art of War by Derek Yuen is very much a light bulb moment for commentators on Western strategic thought.' -- LSE Review of Books

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Book SynopsisRebooting Clausewitz offers an entirely new take on the work of history's greatest theorist of war. Written for an undergraduate readership that often struggles with Clausewitz's master work On War--a book that is often considered too philosophical and impenetrably dense--it seeks to unpack some of Clausewitz's key insights on theory and strategy. In three fictional interludes Clausewitz attends a seminar at West Point; debates the War on Terror at a Washington think tank; and visits a Robotics Institute in Santa Fe where he discusses how scientists are reshaping the future of war. Three separate essays situate Clausewitz in the context of his times, discuss his understanding of the culture of war, and the extent to which two other giants--Thucydides and Sun Tzu--complement his work. Some years ago the philosopher W.B. Gallie argued that Clausewitz needed to be 'saved from the Clausewitzians'. Clausewitz doesn't need saving and his commentators have contributed a great deal to our understanding of On War's seminal status as a text. But too often they tend to conduct a conversation between themselves. This book is an attempt to let a wider audience into the conversation.Trade Review'Christopher Coker answers the question of Clausewitz's relevance to the twenty-first Century by imagining the great master justifying his theories to modern audiences. His approach is engaging, illuminating and a bit mischievous. * Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London, author of Strategy: A History *'Is Clausewitz still relevant for the twenty first century? In this bravura and scintillatingly written study, Christopher Coker argues for a powerful yes. Mixing acute analysis and thought provoking imagined dialogues and fictional recreations of Clausewitz's discussion with his friends, Coker has produced a gem of a book, illuminating brilliantly for the twenty first century the originality and genius of both Clausewitz and On War.' * Nicholas Rengger, Professor of Political Theory and International Relations, University of St Andrews *'An evocative and entertaining excursion that reveals not only what Coker thinks about Clausewitz, but also what he thinks about several of the leading institutions that help shape strategic thinking in the US and UK today.' * Antulio J. Echevarria II, Elihu Root Chair of Military Studies, US Army War College *'Arguing about Clausewitz remains a vital exercise in thinking about conflict. Coker's study will help students grasp his main concepts, and to argue afresh over the Prussian's ideas, life and legacy, and the conflicting ways to interpret his work. Clausewitz's mind was restless and argumentative, and Coker imagines him intervening in the debates of our time. Coker, like Bassford, Herberg-Rothe, Paret and Strachan helps bring Clausewitz back from stale doctrinal arguments, as a source of wisdom in times of war.' * Patrick Porter, Professor of Strategic Studies, University of Exeter, and author of The Global Village Myth: Distance, War and the Limits of Power *

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Book SynopsisThe true measure of an insurgency’s success begins after victoryTrade ReviewOpper makes excellent use of primary sources, including newspapers, memoirs and copious amount of internal party documents to provide the reader with a rich and nuanced discussion of the ebb and flow of the CCP insurgency across two decades, and to give a clear sense of how its political apparatus interacted with the civilian population. People’s Wars in China, Malaya, and Vietnam is recommended for anyone who is interested in how insurgencies succeed or fail."" - David Fitzgerald, The Middle Ground Journal

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Book SynopsisScientists have long been intimately connected with warfare, called upon to supply fighters with tools of killing. Some scientists have attempted to reorient the morality of their disciplines. Rational Fog takes stock of these efforts and explores the quandary of scientific productivity today, in an era of perpetual war.Trade ReviewRational Fog demonstrates that [scientists’] expertise is remarkably effective when combined with militaristic goals…One may doubt the ‘science’ of climate change or vaccines, but the power of science is displayed every time a drone carries out a remote strike, a jet breaks the sound barrier, or a nuclear warhead ‘explodes’ inside of a computer simulation. It may be inconvenient, but those truths are neither nebulous nor negligible. They are lethal. -- W. Patrick McCray * Los Angeles Review of Books *Lindee…begins her study of technoscientific warfare by observing that the eroticism of modern weaponry has mesmerized the public…Lindee’s plainest ambition in Rational Fog consists in what she calls an ‘audit’ of the key moments in history when science was regrettably appropriated for warfare. Her unflinching examination abrades a naïve picture of science…as ‘uniquely neutral, universalistic, and benevolent…a calling, not a profession.’ -- Trevor Quirk * Virginia Quarterly Review *Offers the reader a journey through some of the most prominent examples of the ambivalent achievements of human scientific and engineering ingenuity: machines and technical and organic systems of destruction…Casts the history of modern scientific expertise as a process of groping in the fog of war…Lindee goes on to offer a set of arguments to bolster her call for opposition to the militarization of technoscience. -- Egle Rindzeviciute * H-Diplo Reviews *Lindee has not written a typical monograph on the relationship between science and warfare. Rational Fog is a long essay on the systematic relation between the growth of scientific knowledge and violence and an insightful reflection on the ultimate consequences of this closeness…A book for all those intrigued—and let’s be honest, who is not, right now?—by the daily paradox of the achievements of science and technology, which simultaneously threaten and open possibilities for the Earth and humankind. -- Edna Suárez-Díaz * Isis *There is a voluminous literature on science, technology, and warfare, but most of it focuses on a particular science, a particular technology, or a particular war. In this ambitious, synthetic work, M. Susan Lindee explores the relationship between technical knowledge and violence across a wide historical expanse. A highly original and fascinating book. -- Naomi Oreskes, author of Why Trust Science?This book brilliantly illuminates how the ‘fog of war’ creeps beyond the battlefield, engulfing the collaborative and analytical systems of scientists and engineers in the production of weapon systems for the modern age. -- Robert Jacobs, Hiroshima Peace InstituteThis fascinating book compels us to reckon with how science has been developed and directed by the military—and how scientific knowledge and technology underlie the ghastly deadliness of modern warfare, from gunshot wounds to the atomic bomb. M. Susan Lindee presents the coupling of science to the defense state as integral and systemic, not a matter of a few bad actors or the corruption of research. Vital reading. -- Angela N. H. Creager, author of Life Atomic: A History of Radioisotopes in Science and Medicine

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Book SynopsisExamines how the financial and organizational challenges of adopting the methods of fighting wars can influence the international balance of power. This title argues that a state or actor wishing to adopt a military innovation must possess the financial resources to buy or build the technology and the internal organizational capacity.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2010 Edgar S. Furniss Book Award, Mershon Center for International Security Studies Winner of the 2011 Best Book, International Security Studies Section of the International Studies Association Winner of the 2011 Harold D. Lasswell Prize, Society of Policy ScientistsTable of ContentsList of Illustrations vii Preface ix Chapter 1; Introduction 1 Chapter 2: A Theory of the Diffusion of Military Power 18 Chapter 3: Carrier Warfare 65 Chapter 4: The Nuclear Revolution 98 Chapter 5: Battlefleet Warfare 134 Chapter 6: Suicide Terrorism 166 Chapter 7: Conclusion 208 Appendix 1: Suicide Terrorism Group Linkages 227 Appendix 2: Nuclear Diffusion Survival Model 232 Bibliography 237 Index 265

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Book SynopsisThe goal of war is to defeat the enemy's will to fight. But how this can be accomplished is a thorny issue. Nothing Less than Victory provocatively shows that aggressive, strategic military offenses can win wars and establish lasting peace, while defensive maneuvers have often led to prolonged carnage, indecision, and stalemate. Taking an ambitiousTrade Review"Lewis' analysis of war as a psychological struggle and 'clash of moral purposes' is lucid and forceful; it's especially telling in his incisive account of Sherman's march through Georgia, and especially provocative in his defense of the atomic bombings of Japan."--Publishers WeeklyTable of ContentsList of Maps and Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Victory and the Moral Will to Fight 1 Chapter 1: "To Look without Flinching": The Greco-Persian Wars, 547-446 BC 11 Chapter 2: "Only One Omen Is Best": The Theban Wars, 382-362 BC 36 Chapter 3: "I Will Have My Opponent": The Second Punic War, 218-201 BC 68 Chapter 4: "A Prince Necessary Rather Than Good": The Campaigns of Aurelian, AD 270-275 109 Chapter 5: "The Hard Hand of War": Sherman's March through the American South, AD 1864-1865 141 Chapter 6: "The Balm for a Guilty Conscience": British Appeasement and the Prelude to World War II, AD 1919-1939 184 Chapter 7: "Gifts from Heaven": The American Victory over Japan, AD 1945 237 Conclusion: The Lessons of the Victories 286 Notes 295 Bibliography 323 Index 345

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Book SynopsisSince World War II, Japan has become not only a model producer of high-tech consumer goods, but also-despite minimal spending on defense-a leader in innovative technology with both military and civilian uses.Trade ReviewA masterful study of the Japanese arms and aircraft industries, analyzing the interrelationship between military and civilian technology since the mid-nineteenth century. * Foreign Affairs *This book is a pleasure to read. It is a well-argued, lucid account and explanation of Japanese economic success since the Second World War; it is an excellent example of how, historically, to tackle questions of technology and technological innovation and their relation to economic change; and it provides fascinating insight into the debate about the role of national defense in either stimulating or suffocating economic activity. * Business History *

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Book SynopsisBiological weapons have threatened U.S. national security since at least World War II. Historically, however, the U.S. military has neglected research, development, acquisition, and doctrine for biodefense. Following September 11 and the anthrax letters of 2001, the United States started spending billions of dollars per year on medical countermeasures and biological detection systems. But most of this funding now comes from the Department of Health and Human Services rather than the Department of Defense. Why has the U.S. military neglected biodefense and allowed civilian organizations to take the lead in defending the country against biological attacks? In American Biodefense, Frank L. Smith III addresses this puzzling and largely untold story about science, technology, and national security.Smith argues that organizational frames and stereotypes have caused both military neglect and the rise of civilian biodefense. In the armed services, influential ideas about kinetTrade Review[Smith] asks rhetorically, will the US military neglect the threat of cyber weapons, as it neglected for so long the threat of biological weapons? It is a good question, especially since the new director of the US National Security Agency has specifically drawn attention to the fact that there are a number of contemporary states that have the capability to completely shut down the infrastructure of the United States. It is the virtue of books like this that they make us think about these things. -- Dr. Ron Smith * New Zealand International Review *Frank L. Smith III... draws upon his many years of experience, research and expertise to present a seminal work of national importance....A highly recommended study that is also suitable for non-specialist general readers concerned with bioterrorism issues and American national security. -- Michael J. Carson * The Midwest Book Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction. American Biodefense, from Boston to Baghdad1. Science and Technology for National Security: Threats, Interests, and Ideas2. Stereotypical Neglect of Military Research, Development, and Acquisition for Biodefense3. Fatal Assumptions: Military Doctrine4. An Unlikely Sponsor? The Rise of Civilian BiodefenseConclusion. Biodefense and Beyond: The Influence of Ideas on National SecurityNotes Index

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Book SynopsisIn both the popular imagination and among lawmakers and national security experts, there exists the belief that with sufficient motivation and material resources, states or terrorist groups can produce bioweapons easily, cheaply, and successfully. In Barriers to Bioweapons, Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley challenges this perception by showing that bioweapons development is a difficult, protracted, and expensive endeavor, rarely achieving the expected results whatever the magnitude of investment. Her findings are based on extensive interviews she conducted with former U.S. and Soviet-era bioweapons scientists and on careful analysis of archival data and other historical documents related to various state and terrorist bioweapons programs.Bioweapons development relies on living organisms that are sensitive to their environment and handling conditions, and therefore behave unpredictably. These features place a greater premium on specialized knowledge. Ben Ouagrham-Gormley posits thatTrade Review[T]his is an overall excellent book that makes a significant contribution to the study of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. To date, existing research has overwhelmingly focused on the causes of nuclear weapons proliferation, while we know substantially less about the causes of chemical and biological weapons proliferation. This book represents an important and welcome step toward addressing that gap. -- Neil Narang * Political Science Quarterly *Barriers to Bioweapons provides a clear and insightful examination of what is a highly technical and complex subject matter.... The book provides a useful template for analyzing and explaining the relative successes or failures of a number of potential large-scale scientific endeavors beyond the realm of Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is a must-read for nonproliferation experts and should be a standard text for understanding biological weapons development for some time to come. -- David W. Kearn * Perspectives on Politics *Ben Ouagrham-Gormley's book is a fascinating study of the phenomenology of scientific knowledge, providing a compelling analysis of how knowledge is acquired, developed, transmitted, and, at the same time, diluted or lost as a result of organizational, social, economic, political, and ultimately very human factors that vary widely within countries and over time. -- Janne Nolan * Nonproliferation Review *In Barriers to Bioweapons, Ben Ouagrham-Gormley similarly and persuasively argues that the challenges to producing biological weapons—whether by state or non-state actors—are considerable.... The book is an attempt to demonstrate in a rigorous manner that there are significant barriers to producing bioweapons. Given the recent controversy over the publication of several papers on H5N1 influenza research, this is a timely and welcome book that challenges prevailing notions about the ease of bioweapons development. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * Choice *Table of ContentsChapter 1: The Bio-proliferation PuzzleChapter 2: The Acquisition and Use of Specialized KnowledgeChapter 3: Impediments and Facilitators of Bioweapons Developments: Organization, Management, and Exogenous FactorsChapter 4: The American Bioweapons Program: Scientific Progress, Operational FailureChapter 5: The Soviet Bioweapons Program: Failed IntegrationChapter 6: Small Bioweapons Programs and the Constraints of CovertnessChapter 7: Preventing Bioweapons Developments: Policy ImplicationsAppendix 1: American Bioweapons Program: Contractors Appendix 2: American Bioweapons Program: Approximate Budget FiguresNotes Index

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Book SynopsisSince World War II, Japan has become not only a model producer of high-tech consumer goods, but also-despite minimal spending on defense-a leader in innovative technology with both military and civilian uses.Trade ReviewA masterful study of the Japanese arms and aircraft industries, analyzing the interrelationship between military and civilian technology since the mid-nineteenth century. * Foreign Affairs *This book is a pleasure to read. It is a well-argued, lucid account and explanation of Japanese economic success since the Second World War; it is an excellent example of how, historically, to tackle questions of technology and technological innovation and their relation to economic change; and it provides fascinating insight into the debate about the role of national defense in either stimulating or suffocating economic activity. * Business History *

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Book SynopsisThe first two volumes of this outstanding history of Canada's defence and foreign policy have drawn unanimous acclaim from scholars and critics alike. Richard Preston said of the first volume that is 'opens up a new chapter in Canadian historiography' and of the second that is 'amply lives up to the promise of the earlier epoch-making book.' Kenneth McNaught stated: 'There could not be more important reading for anyone trying to apprehend the tenacious traditions underlying our present position in world affairs.' The third volume has been described in Political Science Quarterly as 'a first class book – learned in content, lucid and witty in style.'

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Book SynopsisWithin the context of debates about both the evolution of Victorian professions and the nature of military professionalism, F.W. Beckett considers the late Victorian officer corps as a case study for weighing distinctions between the British soldier and his civilian counterparts.

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Book SynopsisExamines the oceanographic conditions that US military planners considered, or should have considered, when landing troops and vehicles on the beach at three historic amphibious assaults: Normandy, Tarawa, and Inchon. Oceanographer Thomas Mitchell brings welcome insight into a little-studied yet extraordinary aspect of ground warfare.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review "On Posthuman War offers a compelling new account of the systemic militarization of human experience. Describing the weaponization of thought that has turned the brain itself into a combat zone, Mike Hill shows that the most basic epistemological and ontological questions can now only be posed from within the war machine."—Jan Mieszkowski, author of Watching War "As Mike Hill demonstrates, war has become woven into the fabric of all our lives through the woof and warp of data and virtuality, and his discussion reaches deeply into the ontological import of this process. This is a book for our times, at once compelling and chilling, lively and optimistic."—Geoffrey C. Bowker, University of California, Irvine "Flowing between philosophy, communication methods and the politics of diversity and race, the book bridges fields and informatively navigates the politics of war."—International Journal of Communication Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsPreface: Supping with the Devil DogsIntroduction: Number RulesThe Terrorist Recognition HandbookCybernetics and Netcentric WarThe Lords of Things as They AreRealism and Posthuman WarSystem-of-SystemsSummary of Remaining Chapters1. War DemographyThe Revolution in Military AffairsU.S. Census Politics and the Coming White MinorityThe Graveyard of the Human RaceRace WarThe Algorithmic Unconscious2. War AnthropologyThe Human Terrain System ProgramData as Physical TransmissionNational Character Study in World War IICounterinsurgency Theory and VietnamQuantum Systems and Asymmetrical WarWhite Afghans3. War NeuroscienceThe Functional CombatantLiving MatterCartography and Virtual RealityThe Human Brain as Image GeneratorOpto-ElectronicsVirtuality and WarWhite MatterNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review "On Posthuman War offers a compelling new account of the systemic militarization of human experience. Describing the weaponization of thought that has turned the brain itself into a combat zone, Mike Hill shows that the most basic epistemological and ontological questions can now only be posed from within the war machine."—Jan Mieszkowski, author of Watching War "As Mike Hill demonstrates, war has become woven into the fabric of all our lives through the woof and warp of data and virtuality, and his discussion reaches deeply into the ontological import of this process. This is a book for our times, at once compelling and chilling, lively and optimistic."—Geoffrey C. Bowker, University of California, Irvine "Flowing between philosophy, communication methods and the politics of diversity and race, the book bridges fields and informatively navigates the politics of war."—International Journal of Communication Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsPreface: Supping with the Devil DogsIntroduction: Number RulesThe Terrorist Recognition HandbookCybernetics and Netcentric WarThe Lords of Things as They AreRealism and Posthuman WarSystem-of-SystemsSummary of Remaining Chapters1. War DemographyThe Revolution in Military AffairsU.S. Census Politics and the Coming White MinorityThe Graveyard of the Human RaceRace WarThe Algorithmic Unconscious2. War AnthropologyThe Human Terrain System ProgramData as Physical TransmissionNational Character Study in World War IICounterinsurgency Theory and VietnamQuantum Systems and Asymmetrical WarWhite Afghans3. War NeuroscienceThe Functional CombatantLiving MatterCartography and Virtual RealityThe Human Brain as Image GeneratorOpto-ElectronicsVirtuality and WarWhite MatterNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisThe Italian General Giulio Douhet reigns as one of the twentieth century's foremost strategic air power theorists. As such scholars as Raymond Flugel have pointed out, Douhet's theories were crucial at a pivotal pre-World War II Army Air Force institution, the Air Corps Tactical School.Trade Review“The Italian General Giulio Douhet reigns as one of the twentieth century’s foremost strategic air power theorists. Along with William ‘Billy’ Mitchell, Douhet understood that the technological advances in weaponry made during World War I were not fully utilized by Allied commanders. Douhet thus spent the decade after the war constructing a theory that would facilitate the strategic use of what he conceived to be the biggest technological breakthrough of all, the airplane. As such scholars as Raymond Flugel have pointed out, Douhet’s theories were crucial at a pivotal pre-World War II Army Air Force institution, the AirCorps Tactical School.” — Michael J. Eula, Air University Review“Giulio Douhet’s The Command of the Air is a military classic. It was the first detailed analysis of the offensive and defensive employment of the air weapon. Published in 1921, The Command of the Air asserted the decisiveness of strategic bombardment before Billy Mitchell and other air leaders had given that subject any detailed thought. The 1927 edition . . . contains Douhet’s fully developed thesis on how to use the air weapon to achieve victory. Subsequently translated into English, French, German, and Russian, it stimulated the thinking of aviators in various countries prior to World War II.” — Col. John F. Shiner, Air University Review

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Book SynopsisExplains how the American military's anti-gay policy is fundamentally misdescribed by its common nickname, 'Don't Ask/Don't Tell.' This title shows that this ubiquitous phrase implies that it discharges service members not for who they are, but for what they do. It is suitable for legal scholars, policymakers, activists, and military historians.Trade Review“For more than a decade, Janet E. Halley’s groundbreaking work in queer legal theory has made hers a central voice in law and sexuality studies. For anyone interested in understanding the rhetorical battlefield of the U.S. military’s anti-gay policies, Don’t is a must.”—Kendall Thomas, Columbia University School of Law“Janet Halley's extraordinary book shows us how political analysis, linguistic reading, and legal strategy and philosophy can work together at their best. She has stunned and moved her readers time and again by challenging the apparent oppositions that inform tactical thinking in lesbian and gay legal studies. Hers is a vision complex, learned, practical, brilliant, inspiring, and radical. Don’t is something everyone must do!”—Judith Butler, Maxine Elliot Professor, University of California at Berkeley“Halley’s book is a valuable and much-needed salvo in the war on an archaic and constitutionally compromised policy.” -- Christopher Capozzola * CLGH Newsletter *"If you thought the policy changes that came out of the gays-in-the-military fracas in Clinton’s first term made things easier for gay soldiers, you’re wrong, Halley says. Meticulously tracing the paper trail of how the changes were formulated, she argues that the new policy is more oppressive. . . . Excellent exposition on its subject . . . ." * Booklist *"This, the penultimate year of the Clinton administration, may be a good time to review some of his so-called achievements, among them the attempt to lift the ban on gays in the military. And Janet Halley’s Don’t is a great place to start. . . . The outstanding contribution of Don’t is its review of how the language of policy led to such disastrous results. . . . Halley makes her intricate and thoughtful argument memorable through several key phrases: the conduct/status distinction, the queen-for-a-day defense, and the two models of propensity—the actuarial and the psychometric. Like great pamphleteers before her, these phrases help fix the argument in readers’ minds without detracting from the analysis. . . . Offering suggestions . . . takes this book beyond most polemics: it can be useful." * Boston Book Review *"What accounts for the shift from the old policy to the new one, and then to the new statute? What is the meaning of this shift? Janet Halley attempts to answer these questions not on the basis of interviews or conventional investigative techniques, but with close readings of the new policy and law, and with an exhaustive examination of the public record (hearings, press conferences, speeches, congressional debates). Halley thinks that this system is ‘much, much worse than its predecessor’. . . . One of Halley’s most interesting discussions involves the post 1993 emphasis on [the] idea of ‘propensity,’ a genuine innovation, not to be found in any predecessor and provision." -- Cass R. Sunstein * The New Republic *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction The Negotiations and the Players Clinton Is to Conduct as Congress Is to Status But Everyone Agrees on the Propensity Clauses Conclusion Notes Bibliography

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Book SynopsisUncovering the class conflicts, geopolitical dynamics, and aggressive capitalism propelling the militarization of the internet Global surveillance, computational propaganda, online espionage, virtual recruiting, massive data breaches, hacked nuclear centrifuges and power grids—concerns about cyberwar have been mounting, rising to a fever pitch after the alleged Russian hacking of the U.S. presidential election and the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Although cyberwar is widely discussed, few accounts undertake a deep, critical view of its roots and consequences. Analyzing the new militarization of the internet, Cyberwar and Revolution argues that digital warfare is not a bug in the logic of global capitalism but rather a feature of its chaotic, disorderly unconscious. Urgently confronting the concept of cyberwar through the lens of both Marxist critical theory and psychoanalysis, Nick Dyer-Witheford and Svitlana Matviyenko provide a wide-ranging examination of the class conflicts and geopolitical dynamics propelling war across digital networks.Investigating the subjectivities that cyberwar mobilizes, exploits, and bewilders, and revealing how it permeates the fabric of everyday life and implicates us all in its design, this book also highlights the critical importance of the emergent resistance to this digital militarism—hacktivism, digital worker dissent, and off-the-grid activism—for effecting different, better futures.Trade Review"Engaging, imaginative, and thorough, Cyberwar and Revolution tracks the emergence of cyberwar as expressions and fantasies that reveal the unconscious violent hostility of contemporary capitalism." —Benjamin Noys, author of Malign Velocities: Accelerationism and Capitalism "Sweeping in scope, precise with details, and penetrating in its theoretical analysis, Cyberwar and Revolution is a superbly crafted account. Nick Dyer-Witherford and Svitlana Matviyenko attend to the specificities of tactics and technologies in light of geopolitical hierarchies and shifting configurations around imperialism and capitalism that animate the direction and impact of cyberwar across the globe. Erudite and yet riveting, Cyberwar and Revolution could not be more timely and urgent." —Gabriella Coleman, author of Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous "As information networks become more pervasive, the criss-crossing lines they draw make it harder to know what is inside and what is outside. Is this a state of perpetual war, ubiquitous revolution, and violence without ends (only means)? In such a theater, who is really a civilian? Cyberwar and Revolution provides a chilling account of what is at stake for the further militarization of data and an emphatic vision for a far less dangerous alternative." —Benjamin H. Bratton, University of California, San DiegoTable of ContentsContentsIntroduction: You May Not Be Interested in Cyber-War …1. The Geopolitical and Class Relations of Cyber-War2. Cyber-War’s Subjects3. What Is to Be Done?AcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisUncovering the class conflicts, geopolitical dynamics, and aggressive capitalism propelling the militarization of the internet Global surveillance, computational propaganda, online espionage, virtual recruiting, massive data breaches, hacked nuclear centrifuges and power grids—concerns about cyberwar have been mounting, rising to a fever pitch after the alleged Russian hacking of the U.S. presidential election and the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Although cyberwar is widely discussed, few accounts undertake a deep, critical view of its roots and consequences. Analyzing the new militarization of the internet, Cyberwar and Revolution argues that digital warfare is not a bug in the logic of global capitalism but rather a feature of its chaotic, disorderly unconscious. Urgently confronting the concept of cyberwar through the lens of both Marxist critical theory and psychoanalysis, Nick Dyer-Witheford and Svitlana Matviyenko provide a wide-ranging examination of the class conflicts and geopolitical dynamics propelling war across digital networks.Investigating the subjectivities that cyberwar mobilizes, exploits, and bewilders, and revealing how it permeates the fabric of everyday life and implicates us all in its design, this book also highlights the critical importance of the emergent resistance to this digital militarism—hacktivism, digital worker dissent, and off-the-grid activism—for effecting different, better futures.Trade Review"Engaging, imaginative, and thorough, Cyberwar and Revolution tracks the emergence of cyberwar as expressions and fantasies that reveal the unconscious violent hostility of contemporary capitalism." —Benjamin Noys, author of Malign Velocities: Accelerationism and Capitalism "Sweeping in scope, precise with details, and penetrating in its theoretical analysis, Cyberwar and Revolution is a superbly crafted account. Nick Dyer-Witherford and Svitlana Matviyenko attend to the specificities of tactics and technologies in light of geopolitical hierarchies and shifting configurations around imperialism and capitalism that animate the direction and impact of cyberwar across the globe. Erudite and yet riveting, Cyberwar and Revolution could not be more timely and urgent." —Gabriella Coleman, author of Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous "As information networks become more pervasive, the criss-crossing lines they draw make it harder to know what is inside and what is outside. Is this a state of perpetual war, ubiquitous revolution, and violence without ends (only means)? In such a theater, who is really a civilian? Cyberwar and Revolution provides a chilling account of what is at stake for the further militarization of data and an emphatic vision for a far less dangerous alternative." —Benjamin H. Bratton, University of California, San DiegoTable of ContentsContentsIntroduction: You May Not Be Interested in Cyber-War …1. The Geopolitical and Class Relations of Cyber-War2. Cyber-War’s Subjects3. What Is to Be Done?AcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisMinuteman: A Technical History of the Missile That Defined American Nuclear Warfare is a detailed history of the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile program, which has served as a powerful component of US nuclear strategies for over half a century. David K. Stumpf examines breakthroughs in solid propellant, lightweight inertial guidance systems and lightweight reentry vehicle development, the construction of over a thousand launch and launch control facilities, and key flight test and operational flight programs, and places the Minuteman program in context with world events.Trade Review“Minuteman is an exceptionally important contribution to the historiography of air power and the strategic triad . . . a most valuable study and a good story, well told." —Roger D. Launius, author of Reaching for the Moon: A Short History of the Space Race"An important addition to the literature on the history of US strategic missiles, Minuteman will be of interest to libraries, educational institutions, engineers, and historians interested in missiles, nuclear weapons, and the Cold War." —Christopher John Gainor, author of The Bomb and America’s Missile Age"The Minuteman was one of the most important weapons of the nuclear age, and the subject of countless arguments and debates in the White House, the Pentagon, and Congress during the Cold War. David K. Stumpf's comprehensive and engaging history explores all aspects of this weapons system, from its creation and testing to deployment to its partial elimination during arms-control discussions. Even today, buried throughout the American Midwest, hundreds of Minuteman missiles with horrible destructive power sit at the ready, hopefully to never be used." —Dwayne Day, policy analyst and space historian"From the scientific research that made possible the engineering and development of the Minuteman, to the challenging construction of operational facilities across the central United States, David K. Stumpf narrates this technical history with masterful precision. Every turned page reveals long-neglected or surprisingly new details from now-obscure sources." —Rick W. Sturdevant, deputy director of history, United States Space Force"Minuteman is a timely and valuable contribution in view of the ongoing deliberations on a decades-long upgrading of Minuteman III." —Leonard H. Caveny, former director of science and technology, Ballistic Missile Defense Organization"Minuteman is the first comprehensive account of this vitally important strategic missile. All individuals interested in the details of the complex Minuteman development, deployment, and testing history will want to purchase this book. Even those who are extremely knowledgeable about Minuteman can learn a great deal from David K. Stumpf’s account." —J. D. Hunley, author of The Development of Propulsion Technology for US Space-Launch Vehicles, 1926—1991

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Book SynopsisIn an age in which fears about the future predominate (in the form of dystopias, ecological catastrophes and terrifying Sci-Fi scenarios), utopia is reappearing as the bearer of hope for the fate of humanity. Latin America has historically been a fertile ground where utopian projects, movements and experiments could take root and thrive, and this constitutes one of the regions major contributions to world history. Each of the thirteen authors who participate to this collective volume address a particular case or specific aspect of Latin American utopianism from colonial times to the present day. The relationship between utopia and America Latin America in particular has been a constant throughout the ages and helps to clarify both the concept of Utopia and of Latin America. The one cannot be understood without the other, from the book of Thomas More in 1516 to the present. Myths and legends of utopian content already proliferated at the time of the voyages of exploration, spurring on the conquistadors, while the knowledge gap about lands awaiting discovery was filled with stories about utopias. The America that the Spanish and Portuguese discovered became, from the sixteenth century onwards, a space in which it was possible to imagine the widest variety of forms of human coexistence. Utopias in Latin America reconsiders the sense and understanding of utopias in various historical frames: the discovery of indigenous cultures and their natural environments; the foundation of new towns and cities in a vast colonial territory considered as empty space in which it was possible to start afresh; the experimental communities of nineteenth-century utopian socialists and European exiled intellectuals; and the innovative formulae that attempts to get beyond twentieth-century capitalism.

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Book SynopsisIn an age in which fears about the future predominate (in the form of dystopias, ecological catastrophes and terrifying Sci-Fi scenarios), utopia is reappearing as the bearer of hope for the fate of humanity. Latin America has historically been a fertile ground where utopian projects, movements and experiments could take root and thrive, and this constitutes one of the regions major contributions to world history. Each of the thirteen authors who participate to this collective volume address a particular case or specific aspect of Latin American utopianism from colonial times to the present day. The relationship between utopia and America Latin America in particular has been a constant throughout the ages and helps to clarify both the concept of Utopia and of Latin America. The one cannot be understood without the other, from the book of Thomas More in 1516 to the present. Myths and legends of utopian content already proliferated at the time of the voyages of exploration, spurring on the conquistadors, while the knowledge gap about lands awaiting discovery was filled with stories about utopias. The America that the Spanish and Portuguese discovered became, from the sixteenth century onwards, a space in which it was possible to imagine the widest variety of forms of human coexistence. Utopias in Latin America reconsiders the sense and understanding of utopias in various historical frames: the discovery of indigenous cultures and their natural environments; the foundation of new towns and cities in a vast colonial territory considered as empty space in which it was possible to start afresh; the experimental communities of nineteenth-century utopian socialists and European exiled intellectuals; and the innovative formulae that attempts to get beyond twentieth-century capitalism.

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Book Synopsis

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