Castles

图书信息

作者	Brauer, Jurgen
出版社	University of Chicago Press
ISBN	9780226071657
出版时间	2008-11-15
字数	94.5万
分类	Brauer,Jurgen,University of Chicago Press,进口书,外文原版书,文学,自传,回忆录

读书简介

Castles, Battles, and Bombs reconsiders key episodes of military history from the point of view of economics-with dramatically insightful results. For example, when looked at as a question of sheer cost, the building of castles in the High Middle Ages seems almost inevitable: though stunningly expensive, a strong castle was far cheaper to maintain than a standing army. The authors also reexamine the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II and provide new insights into France's decision to develop nuclear weapons. Drawing on these examples and more, Brauer and Van Tuyll suggest lessons for today's military, from counterterrorist strategy and military manpower planning to the use of private military companies in Afghanistan and Iraq.?"e;In bringing economics into assessments of military history, [the authors] also bring illumination. . . . [The authors] turn their interdisciplinary lens on the mercenary arrangements of Renaissance Italy; the wars of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon; Grant's campaigns in the Civil War; and the strategic bombings of World War II. The results are invariably stimulating."e;-Martin Walker, Wilson Quarterly?"e;This study is serious, creative, important. As an economist I am happy to see economics so professionally applied to illuminate major decisions in the history of warfare."e;-Thomas C. Schelling, Winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics

目录

Cover

Copyright

Title Page

Other Works

Dedication

Contents

List of Figures and Tables

Preface

One: Economics

Economics

Principle I: Opportunity Cost

Principle II: Expected Marginal Costs and Benefits

Principle III: Substitution

Principle IV: Diminishing Marginal Returns

Principle V: Asymmetric Information and Hidden Characteristics

Principle VI: Hidden Actions and Incentive Alignments

Conclusion: Economics—and Military History

Two: The High Middle Ages, 1000–1300 The Case of the Medieval Castle and the Opportunity Cost of Warfare

Opportunity Cost and Warfare

The Ubiquity of Castles

The Cost of Castling

The Advantages of Castles

The Cost of Armies

Castle Building and the Other Principles of Economics

Conclusion

Three: The Renaissance, 1300–1600 The Case of the Condottieri and the Military Labor Market

The Principal-Agent Problem

Demand, Supply, and Recruitment

Contracts and Pay

Control and Contract Evolution

The Development of Permanent Armies

Condottieri and the Other Principles of Economics

Conclusion

Four: The Age of Battle, 1618–1815 The Case of Costs, Benefits, and the Decision to Offer Battle

Expected Marginal Costs and Benefits of Battle

The 1600s: Gustavus Adolphus and Raimondo de Montecuccoli

The 1700s: Marlborough, de Saxe, and Frederick the Great

Napoleonic Warfare

The Age of Battle and the Other Principles of Economics

Conclusion

Five: The Age of Revolution, 1789–1914 The Case of the American Civil War and the Economics of Information Asymmetry

Information and Warfare

North, South, and the Search for Information

Major Eastern Campaigns through Gettysburg

Grant in Virginia

The American Civil War and the Other Principles of Economics

Conclusion

Six: The Age of the World Wars, 1914–1945 The Case of Diminishing Marginal Returns to the Strategic Bombing of Germany in World War II

A Strategic Bombing Production Function

Bombing German War Production

Bombing the Supply Chain and the Civilian Economy

Bombing German Morale

Assessing the Effect of Strategic Bombing

Strategic Bombing and the Other Principles of Economics

Conclusion

Seven: The Age of the Cold War, 1945–1991 The Case of Capital-Labor Substitution and France’s Force de Frappe

History of the Force de Frappe

The Force Post–De Gaulle

Justifying the Force

The Force’s Effect on France’s Conventional Arms

Substituting Nuclear for Conventional Forces

The Force de Frappe and the Other Principles of Economics

Conclusion

Eight: Economics and Military History in the Twenty-first Century

Economics of Terrorism

Economics of Military Manpower

Economics of Private Military Companies

Economics, Historiography, and Military History

Conclusion

Notes

References

Index