Description
Book SynopsisShows how intercultural interactions between Europeans and indigenous people influenced military choices and strategic action. Ranging from the Muscovites on the western steppe to the French and English in North America, it analyzes how diplomatic and military systems were designed to accommodate the demands and expectations of local peoples.
Trade ReviewEmpires and Indigenes is a sweeping examination of how intercultural interactions between Europeans and indigenous people influenced military choices and strategic action. * Settler Colonial Studies Blog *
[T]his is a fascinating group of essays focused on the military side of empire building, a necessary phase before institution building could get underway. -- Robert C. Ritchie * The Historian *
In sum, Empires and Indigenesshould be required reading material for individuals interested in early modern empire building. -- Rainer Buschmann * H-Net Reviews *
The range of essays in the collection is truly ambitious, ranging from considerations of Euro-American and Native American ways of war in the Americas to the relation between Europe and the history of war making in South Asia and Africa, to the military histories of Russia's eastern empire and the Ottoman Empire. Clearly, the definitions employed here for both 'indigenes' and 'empires' are capacious indeed, but the authors track a startling number of analogies among these widely variable contexts. -- Brian Yothers * Early American Literature *
Empires and Indigenes offers a valuable perspective not only on the cross-cultural dimensions of early-modern warfare but also on the differing styles of imperial expansion. As such, this collection is a significant addition to the global history of the period. -- Jeremy Black,author of War: A Short History
Empire and Indigenes needs to be read by historians, policy analysts, and military experts for important reassessments on intercultural warfare. With measured arguments, the authors challenge and qualify hallowed & truths of military and imperial history, such as the early modern military revolution or the easy defeats and subjugation of indigenous populations. This volume will surely mark a shift in how we understand warfare as a complex and contested form of intercultural engagement in empires. -- Elizabeth Mancke,co-editor of The Creation of the British Atlantic World
Table of ContentsList of Maps 1 Projecting Power in the Early Modern World Wayne E. LeePart I Military, Cultural, and Diplomatic Exchange in the Imperial-Indigenous Encounter 2 Gaining the Diplomatic Edge Jenny Hale Pulsipher 3 The Military Revolution of Native North America Wayne E. Lee 4 Revolution, Evolution, or Devolution Douglas M. PeersPart II Warrior Peoples and Uniform Recruits in Old World Empires 5 Muscovite-Nomad Relations on the Steppe Frontier before 1800 and the Development of Russia's "Inclusive" Imperialism David R. Jones 6 Ottoman Ethnographies of Warfare, 1500-1800 Virginia H. AksanPart III Variations: Types of Indigenous-Imperial Alliances in the Atlantic Empires 7 Firearms, Diplomacy, and Conquest in Angola John K. Thornton 8 The Opportunities and Limits of Ethnic Soldiering Mark Meuwese 9 Deploying Tribes and Clans Geoffrey Plank 10 "Cleansing the Land" Marjoleine Kars Contributors Index
