War in human civilization
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
War in human civilization
Oxford University Press, 2006
Available at 3 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 674-807) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Why do people go to war? Is it rooted in human nature or is it a late cultural invention? How does war relate to the other fundamental developments in the history of human civilization? And what of war today - is it a declining phenomenon or simply changing its shape? In this truly global study of war and civilization, Azar Gat sets out to find definitive answers to these questions in an attempt to unravel the 'riddle of war' throughout human history, from the early hunter-gatherers right through to the unconventional terrorism of the twenty-first century. In the process, the book generates an astonishing wealth of original and fascinating insights on all major aspects of humankind's remarkable journey through the ages, engaging a wide range of disciplines, from anthropology and evolutionary psychology to sociology and political science. Written with remarkable verve and clarity and wholly free from jargon, it will be of interest to anyone who has ever pondered the puzzle of war.
Table of Contents
- PART ONE: WARFARE IN THE FIRST TWO MILLION YEARS: ENVIRONMENT, GENES, AND CULTURE
- 1. The Human 'State of Nature'
- 2. Peaceful or Warlike: Did Hunter-Gatherers Fight?
- 3. Why Fighting? The Evolutionary Perspective
- 4. Motivation: Food and Sex
- 5. Motivation: the Web of Desire
- 6. 'Primitive Warfare': How Was It Done?
- 7. Conclusion: Fighting in the Evolutionary State of Nature
- PART TWO: AGRICULTURE, CIVILIZATION, AND WAR
- 8. Introduction: Evolving Cultural Complexity
- 9. Tribal Warfare in Agraria and Pastoralia
- 10. Armed Force in the Formation of the State
- 11. The Eurasian Spearhead: East, West, and Steppe
- 12. Conclusion: War, the Leviathan, and the Pleasures and Miseries of Civilization
- PART THREE: MODERNITY: THE DUAL FACE OF JANUS
- 13. Introduction: the Explosion of Wealth and Power
- 14. Guns and Markets: the New European States and a Global World
- 15. Unbound and Bound Prometheus: Machine-Age War
- 16. Affluent Liberal Democracies, Ultimate Weapons, and the World
- 17. Conclusion: Unravelling the Riddle of War
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