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War and Peace and War by Peter Turchin

War and Peace and War

The Rise and Fall of Empires

The Rise and Fall of Empires

By Peter Turchin

By Peter Turchin

By Peter Turchin

By Peter Turchin

Best Seller
Paperback $17.00

Feb 27, 2007 | ISBN 9780452288195

Ebook $8.99

Feb 27, 2007 | ISBN 9781101126912

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    About War and Peace and War

    In War and Peace and War, Peter Turchin uses his expertise in evolutionary biology to offer a bold new theory about the course of world history. 

    Turchin argues that the key to the formation of an empire is a society’s capacity for collective action. He demonstrates that high levels of cooperation are found where people have to band together to fight off a common enemy, and that this kind of cooperation led to the formation of the Roman and Russian empires, and the United States. But as empires grow, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, conflict replaces cooperation, and dissolution inevitably follows. Eloquently argued and rich with historical examples, War and Peace and War offers a bold new theory about the course of world history with implications for nations today. 

    About War and Peace and War

    In War and Peace and War, Peter Turchin uses his expertise in evolutionary biology to offer a bold new theory about the course of world history. 

    Turchin argues that the key to the formation of an empire is a society’s capacity for collective action. He demonstrates that high levels of cooperation are found where people have to band together to fight off a common enemy, and that this kind of cooperation led to the formation of the Roman and Russian empires, and the United States. But as empires grow, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, conflict replaces cooperation, and dissolution inevitably follows. Eloquently argued and rich with historical examples, War and Peace and War offers a bold new theory about the course of world history with implications for nations today. 

    About Peter Turchin

    Peter Turchin is an evolutionary anthropologist and one of the founders of the new field of historical social science, Cliodynamics (peterturchin.com/cliodynamics/). His research interests lie at the intersection of social and cultural evolution, historical macrosociology, economic history and cliometrics, mathematical… More about Peter Turchin

    About Peter Turchin

    Peter Turchin is an evolutionary anthropologist and one of the founders of the new field of historical social science, Cliodynamics (peterturchin.com/cliodynamics/). His research interests lie at the intersection of social and cultural evolution, historical macrosociology, economic history and cliometrics, mathematical… More about Peter Turchin

    Product Details

    Category: Military History | Ancient World History

    Paperback | $17.00
    Published by Plume
    Feb 27, 2007 | 416 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-7/16 | ISBN 9780452288195

    Category: Military History | Ancient World History

    Ebook | $8.99
    Published by Plume
    Feb 27, 2007 | 416 Pages | ISBN 9781101126912

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    Praise

    Turchin’s view of [history] from the perspective of an evolutionary biologist . . . promises a great deal. (The Times Higher Education Supplement)

    Table Of Contents

    War And Peace And WarList of Maps

    Introduction
    “So Peace Brings Warre and Warre Brings Peace”

    Part I. Imperiogenesis—The Rise of Empires

    1. A Band of Adventurers Defeats a Kingdom
    Ermak’s Conquering Cossacks

    2. Life on the Edge
    The Transformation of Russia—and America

    3. Slaughter in the Forest
    At the Limites of the Roman Empire

    4. Asabiya in the Desert
    Ibn Khaldun Discovers the Key to History

    5. The Myth of Self-Interest
    And the Science of Cooperation

    6. Born to Be Wolves
    The Origins of Rome

    7. A Medieval Black Hole
    The Rise of the Great European Powers on Carolingian Marches

    Part II. Imperiopathosis—The Fall of Empires

    8. The Other Side of the Wheel of Fortune
    From the Glorious Thirteenth Century into the Abyss of the Fourteenth

    9. A New Idea of Renaissance
    Why Human Conflict Is Like a Forest Fire and an Epidemic

    10. The Matthew Principle
    Why the Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Poorer

    11. Wheels Within Wheels
    The Many Declines of the Roman Empire

    Part III. Cliodynamics—A New Kind of History

    12. War and Peace and Particles
    The Science of History

    13. The Bowling Alley in History
    Measuring the Decline of Social Capital

    14. The End of Empire?
    How the Mobile Phone Is Changing Cliodynamics

    Notes

    Acknowledgments

    Index

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