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"Considering what has been described as an Age of Revolutions, Black assesses a formative period in world history by examining the North American, European, Haitian and Latin American Revolutions. Causes, courses and consequences are all clarified in the articles selected and an introduction charts the major themes."--Provided by publisher.

History and geography delineate the operation of power, not only its range but also the capacity to plan and the ability to implement. Approaching state strategy and policy from the spatial angle, Jeremy Black argues that just as the perception of power is central to issues of power, so place, and its constraints and relationships, is partly a matter of perception, not merely map coordinates. Geopolitics, he maintains, is as much about ideas and perception as it is about the actual spatial dimensions of power. Black's study ranges widely, examining geography and the spatial nature of state power from the 15th century to the present day. He considers the rise of British power, geopolitics and the age of Imperialism, the Nazis and World War II, and the Cold War, and he looks at the key theorists of the latter 20th century, including Henry Kissinger, Francis Fukuyama and Samuel P. Huntington, Philip Bobbitt, Niall Ferguson, and others

Causes -- Alliance politics and grand strategy -- Domestic politics -- Explanations of victory -- Recollection: the war in Europe -- Recollection: the war in Asia -- Conclusions

"Looks at modern conflicts between 1990 and 2014 from a historical perspective. Argues that understanding non-Western developments is crucial if the potential of Western war-making is to be assessed accurately"--

"Information is power. For more than five hundred years the success or failure of nations has been determined by a country's ability to acquire knowledge and technical skill and transform them into strength and prosperity. Leading historian Jeremy Black approaches global history from a distinctive perspective, focusing on the relationship between information and society and demonstrating how the understanding and use of information have been the primary factors in the development and character of the modern age. Black suggests that the West's ascension was a direct result of its institutions and social practices for acquiring, employing, and retaining information and the technology that was ultimately produced. His cogent and well-reasoned analysis looks at cartography and the hardware of communication, armaments and sea power, mercantilism and imperialism, science and astronomy, as well as bureaucracy and the management of information, linking the history of technology with the history of global power while providing important indicators for the future of our world"--

"Looks at modern conflicts between 1990 and 2014 from a historical perspective. Argues that understanding non-Western developments is crucial if the potential of Western war-making is to be assessed accurately"--

This book provides an accessible and up-to-date account of the rich military history of the nineteenth century. It takes a fresh approach, making novel links with conflict and coercion, and moving away from teleological emphases. Naval developments and warfare are included, as are social and cultural dimensions of military activity.Leading military historian Jeremy Black offers the reader a twenty-first century approach to this period, particularly through his focus on the dynamic drive provided by different forms of military goals, or 'tasking'. This allows echoes with modern warfare to come to the fore and provides a fuller understanding of a period sometimes considered solely as background to the total war of 1914-45. Alongside state-to-state warfare and the move toward 'total war', Black's emphasis on different military goals gives due weight to trans-oceanic conflict at the expense of non-Europeans. Irregular, internal and asymmetric war are all considered, ranging from local insurgencies to imperial expeditions, and provide a deliberate shift from Western-centricity.At the very cutting edge of its field, this book is a must read for all students and scholars of military history and its related disciplines. Jeremy Black is Professor of History at the University of Exeter.

Introduction: the key themes -- Early modern western warships: technologies of power projection and lethality -- Gunpowder technology, 1490-1800 -- Firepower, steamships, railways, telegraphs, radio: technologies of killing, logistics, command, and control, 1775-1945 -- The internal combustion engine: the technology of decentralized power, 1910-2013 -- A new sphere: air power, 1903-2013 -- Revolution, transformation, and the present -- Into the future -- Conclusions -- Postscript.