Empires

by Michael W. Doyle

Although empires have shaped the political development of virtually all the states of the modern world, imperialism has not figured largely in the mainstream of scholarly literature. This book seeks to account for the imperial phenomenon and to establish its importance as a subject in the study of the theory of world politics. Michael Doyle believes that empires can best be defined as relationships of effective political control imposed by some political societies--those called metropoles--on other political societies--called peripheries. To build an explanation of the birth, life, and death of empires, he starts with an overview and critique of the leading theories of imperialism. Supplementing theoretical analysis with historical description, he considers episodes from the life cycles of empires from the classical and modern world, concentrating on the nineteenth-century scramble for Africa. He describes in detail the slow entanglement of the peripheral societies on the Nile and the Niger with metropolitan power, the survival of independent Ethiopia, Bismarck's manipulation of imperial diplomacy for European ends, the race for imperial possession in the 1880s, and the rapid setting of the imperial sun. Combining a sensitivity to historical detail with a judicious search for general patterns, Empires will engage the attention of social scientists in many disciplines.

Genres: History, International Relations, World History, Grad School, Politics, Nonfiction

408 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Fresno Bob]

2.5, not well written compared to other recent texts I've read. Doesn't seem to answer the core questions as to why certain monopoles can create sustainable empires and how periphery societies can resist imperialism

[Jay Fisher]

More of a book on imperialism, i.e. The origins of empire more than on empire itself. Roman Empire chapter was a mess and leaves me worried about the other evidence. More empirical than I expected leaving the definition of empire a bit underdetermined. On the other hand concepts such as the Augustan threshold (the point where an empire begins to stabilize through bureaucracy and integration and the Caracallan threshold where the center and periphery merge were useful. The difference between a patrimonial and Trimble society on the periphery was also very helpful.

[Nina]

This is a nuanced overview of different types of empires.

[Greg]

This is a classic book on the rise and fall of empires. I just wish the author was a better writer. The text is jargon-laden and difficult to read.