“European empires of the nineteenth century were economy empires, cheaply obtained by taking advantage of new technologies, and, when the cost of keeping them rose a century later, quickly discarded. In the process, they unbalanced world relations, overturned ancient ways of life, and opened the way for a new global civilization.” Daniel Headrick’s 1981 book The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century explores the social history of technology connecting what its author considers the two “great events” of the nineteenth century: the colonization of Africa and Asia, and the progress and development of industrial technology. Headrick views nineteenth century imperialism as a result of both appropriate motives and adequate means, and divides the trajectory of its history into the three stages of exploration, conquest, and the forging of communication and transportation networks, and explores the development and role of technologies like guns, quinine, submarine cables, railroads and gunboats and steamships. To me, one of the highlights of the book was the interconnected histories of the collaboration of politics, legislation, technological innovation and capital in the success of the steamship lobby in pushing for investment in gunboats in the British empire that Headrick traces, among other similar narratives pertaining to other technologies. His rejection of the “leading sectors” model through which traditional historiographies used to view the Industrial revolution, and their long disregard of technological factors in imperialist expansion, was also noteworthy. This book sits at the crossroads of the history of technology, economic history and the history of European imperialism, and does a good job of exploring how certain technologies impacted and enabled imperial developments. 4/5 🌟 & full review on #goodreads (link in bio) #danielheadrick #historyoftechnology #hst #historyofscience #colonialism #imperialism #militaryhistory #economichistory #britishempire #19thcentury #nineteenthcentury #history #historylovers #historybooks #academicbooks #bookrecommendations #bookstagram #bookreview #nonfiction #nonfictionbook https://www.instagram.com/p/CRnNIQSLVMd/?utm_medium=tumblr
