Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns [Hardcover]

Janice E. Thomson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Princeton Studies in International History and Politics | Publication Date: January 10, 1994

The contemporary organization of global violence is neither timeless nor natural, argues Janice Thomson. It is distinctively modern. In this book she examines how the present arrangement of the world into violence-monopolizing sovereign states evolved over the six preceding centuries. Tracing the activities of mercenaries, pirates, mercantile companies, and sovereigns from the Mediterranean to the Northwest Territories, the author addresses the questions: why do we have centralized bureaucracies - states - which claim a monopoly on violence?; why is this monopoly based on territorial boundaries?; and why is coercion not an international market commodity? Thomson maintains that the contemporary monopolization of violence by sovereign states results from the collective practices of rulers, all seeking power and wealth for their states and themselves, and all competing to exploit extraterritorial violence to achieve those ends. She examines the unintended consequences of such acts, and shows how individual states eventually fell victim to violence. As rulers became increasingly aware of the problems created by nonstate coercive tactics abroad, they worked together to curtail this violence, only to find it intertwined with nonstate violence on the national state level. Exploring the blurred boundaries between the domestic and international, the economic and political, and the state and nonstate realms of authority, this book addresses practical and theoretical issues underlying the reconciliation of violence with political legitimacy.

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

Strike[s] at the heart of [the] assumption that a monopoly on violence is the hallmark of the state, ... [Thomson] is correct when she advises us that `state' and `sovereignty' are more mutable concepts than we might acknowledge or even admit. [A] major contribution to our understanding of international affairs and to the history of state building. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From The New Yorker

Thomson's book is well worth reading. It is historically rich and theoretically erudite. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 236 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr (January 10, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691086583
• ISBN-13: 978-0691086583
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,579,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thomson's books is an elegant evaluation of state-building, November 9, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Albany, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns (Paperback)

Mercenaries, Pirates, and Soverignity offers a very comprehensive analysis regarding the evolution of state-building. Thomson believes that modern nation-states achieved their virtual monopoly on the right and means to launch cross-border military action in the ninteenth century."In the six centuries leading up to 1900, global violence was democratized, marketized, and internationalized." (p.3). This citation establishes as solid base for her hypothesis: "the 'disarming' of nonstate transnational actors from heteronomy to sovereignty and transform states into nation states."(p.3). Janice Thomson's empirical evaluation is excellent--theoretically informed, elegant, and accurate. Without any doubt this is an important book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Critical backgrounder on mercenaries then and today, June 5, 2007

By 

MountainRunner "Matt Armstrong" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns (Paperback)

If you only read a single book on the history of mercenaries, this is your book. Thin, a quick read, it will give you more insight and awareness into the modern era than any other book. A must have for anyone truly interested in historical or modern mercenaries.

5.0 out of 5 stars Provocative, insightful, and brutal to boot, January 8, 2009

By 

Grant Gibbs - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns (Paperback)

Very comprehensive, this book is an attempt by the author to convince us that the nearly exclusive rights to violence contemporary states enjoy is a very new concept. Furthermore, he offers reasonable explanations as to why the change occurred.

My only criticism is that the first chapter is a tad bombastic, as the author clearly enjoys using high brow political science jargon to elucidate his thesis...nonetheless, as soon as you get into the actual history, you'll be hooked.