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This magisterial analysis of human history - from 'Lucy', the first
hominid, to the current Great Recession - combines the insights of
earlier generations of Marxist historians with radical new ideas
about the historical process. Reading history against the grain,
Neil Faulkner reveals that what happened in the past was not
predetermined. Choices were frequent and numerous. Different
outcomes - liberation or barbarism - were often possible. Rejecting
the top-down approach of conventional history, Faulkner contends
that it is the mass action of ordinary people that drives great
events. At the beginning of the 21st century - with economic
disaster, war, climate catastrophe and deep class divisions -
humans face perhaps the greatest crisis in the long history of our
species. The lesson of A Marxist History of the World is that,
since we created our past, we can also create a better future.
An overgrown concrete bunker at Ypres; a rusting gun carriage in a
field in Flanders; perfectly preserved trenchworks at Vimy,
northern France; a rocky mountaintop observation post high in the
Tyrolean mountains. More than 100 years after the end of World War
I, the conflict's legacy can still be seen from Europe to the
Pacific. Abandoned Places of World War I explores more than 120
bunkers, trench systems, tunnels, fortifications and gun
emplacements from North America to East Africa. Included are
defensive structures, such as Fort Douaumont at Verdun, the site of
the Western Front's bloodiest battle; the elaborately constructed
tunnels of the Wellington Quarry, near Arras, designed to provide a
safe working hospital for wounded British soldiers; and crumbling
concrete pill boxes in Anzac Cove, Turkey. From the preserved
remains of the mighty Przemysl fortress to bunkers and observation
points high in the Slovenian Dolomites, Abandoned Places of World
War I features more than 180 striking photographs from around the
world.
A panoramic, provocative account of the clash between British
imperialism and Arab jihadism in Africa between 1870 and 1920 "An
epic account of the British Empire's activities in Africa and the
Middle East. . . . An important, indeed tremendous,
contribution."-John Newsinger, author of The Blood Never Dried: A
People's History of the British Empire The Ottoman Sultan called
for a "Great Jihad" against the Entente powers at the start of the
First World War. He was building on half a century of conflict
between British colonialism and the people of the Middle East and
North Africa. Resistance to Western violence increasingly took the
form of radical Islamic insurgency. Ranging from the forests of
Central Africa to the deserts of Egypt, Sudan, and Somaliland, Neil
Faulkner explores a fatal collision between two forms of
oppression, one rooted in the ancient slave trade, the other in
modern "coolie" capitalism. He reveals the complex interactions
between anti-slavery humanitarianism, British hostility to
embryonic Arab nationalism, "war on terror" moral panics, and
Islamist revolt. Far from being an enduring remnant of the medieval
past, or an essential expression of Muslim identity, Faulkner
argues that "Holy War" was a reactionary response to the violence
of modern imperialism.
The Russian Revolution may well be the most misunderstood event in
modern history. In this fast-paced introduction, Neil Faulkner
debunks the myths that continue to shroud it, showing how a mass
movement of millions, organised in democratic assemblies, mobilised
for militant action and destroyed a regime of landlords, profiteers
and warmongers. Faulkner rejects caricatures of Lenin and the
Bolsheviks as authoritarian conspirators, 'democratic-centralists'
or the progenitors of Stalinist dictatorship; though short-lived,
the Revolution of October 1917 was an explosion of democracy and
creativity. Crushed by bloody counter-revolution, its socialist
vision was ultimately displaced by a monstrous form of bureaucratic
state-capitalism. Laced with first-hand testimony, this history
rescues the democratic essence of the revolution from its
detractors and deniers, offering a perfect primer for the modern
reader. Published in partnership with the Left Book Club.
The Roman Empire is widely admired as a model of civilisation.
In this compelling new study Neil Faulkner argues that in fact, it
was nothing more than a ruthless system of robbery and violence.
War was used to enrich the state, the imperial ruling classes and
favoured client groups. In the process millions of people were
killed or enslaved.
Within the empire the landowning elite creamed off the wealth of
the countryside to pay taxes to the state and fund the towns and
villas where they lived. The masses of people - slaves, serfs and
poor peasants - were victims of a grand exploitation that made the
empire possible. This system, riddled with tension and latent
conflict, contained the seeds of its own eventual collapse.
History is a weapon. The powerful have their version of events, the
people have another. And if we understand how the past was forged,
we arm ourselves to change the future. This is a history of
struggle, revolution and social change: of hominids, hunters and
herders; of emperors and slaves; of patriarchs and women; of rich
and poor; of dictators and revolutionaries. From the ancient
empires of Persia and Rome to the Russian Revolution, the Vietnam
War, and the 2008 Crash, this is a history of greed and violence,
but also of solidarity and resistance. Many times in the past, a
different society became an absolute necessity. Humans have always
struggled to create a better life. This history proves that we, the
many, have the power to change the world.
The interpretation of archaeological evidence is now attracting
increasing critical study.
History is a weapon. The powerful have their version of events, the
people have another. And if we understand how the past was forged,
we arm ourselves to change the future. This is a history of
struggle, revolution and social change: of hominids, hunters and
herders; of emperors and slaves; of patriarchs and women; of rich
and poor; of dictators and revolutionaries. From the ancient
empires of Persia and Rome to the Russian Revolution, the Vietnam
War, and the 2008 Crash, this is a history of greed and violence,
but also of solidarity and resistance. Many times in the past, a
different society became an absolute necessity. Humans have always
struggled to create a better life. This history proves that we, the
many, have the power to change the world.
A wealth of new research and thinking on Lawrence, the Arab Revolt,
and World War One in the Middle East, providing essential
background to today's violent conflicts Rarely is a book published
that revises our understanding of an entire world region and the
history that has defined it. This groundbreaking volume makes just
such a contribution. Neil Faulkner draws on ten years of field
research to offer the first truly multidisciplinary history of the
conflicts that raged in Sinai, Arabia, Palestine, and Syria during
the First World War. In Lawrence of Arabia's War, the author
rewrites the history of T. E. Lawrence's legendary military
campaigns in the context of the Arab Revolt. He explores the
intersections among the declining Ottoman Empire, the Bedouin
tribes, nascent Arab nationalism, and Western imperial ambition.
The book provides a new analysis of Ottoman resilience in the face
of modern industrialized warfare, and it assesses the relative
weight of conventional operations in Palestine and irregular
warfare in Syria. Faulkner thus reassesses the historic roots of
today's divided, fractious, war-torn Middle East.
Ancient Palestine was a ferment of social and ideological conflict.
Full-scale insurrectionary revolt exploded in AD 66 and took on a
revolutionary character as moderate upper-class leaders were pushed
aside and replaced by popular radicals. The war that followed was
bitterly fought, and culminated in the five-month siege of
Jerusalem in the summer of AD 70. which ended with the fall and
destruction of the city amid appalling atrocities. Mopping-up
operations concluded with the spectacular siege of Masada in AD 73.
First published in 2002. Dt Neil Faulkner's acclaimed Apocalypse is
a gripping account of a series of events that rocked the Roman
Empire. Despite their ultimate defeat, the Jewish rebels inspired
future revolts and their actions had huge implications for the
future course, and transformative character, of the threegreat
Mediterranean religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Dr
Faulkner says, even failed revolutions change history.
An essential book for the 21st-century citizen who seeks a lively
guided tour of the ancient Greek Olympics What was it like to
attend the Olympics in 388 B.C.? Would the experience resemble
Olympic festivals as we celebrate them today? This remarkable book
transports us back to the heyday of the city-state and classical
Greek civilization. It invites us to enter this distant, alien, but
still familiar culture and discover what the Greeks did and didn't
do during five thrilling days in August 2,400 years ago. In the
Olympic Stadium there were no stands, no shade-and no women
allowed. Visitors sat on a grassy bank in the searing heat of
midsummer to watch naked athletes compete in footraces, the
pentathlon, horse and chariot races, and three combat
sports-wrestling, boxing, and pankration, everyone's favorite
competition, with virtually no rules and considerable blood and
pain. This colorfully illustrated volume offers a complete tour of
the Olympic site exactly as athletes and spectators found it. The
book evokes the sights, sounds, and smells of the crowded
encampment; introduces the various attendees (from champions and
charlatans to aristocrats and prostitutes); and explains the
numerous exotic religious rituals. Uniquely detailed and precise,
this guide offers readers an unparalleled opportunity to travel in
time, back to the excitement of ancient Olympia.
This magisterial analysis of human history - from "Lucy," the
first hominid, to the Great Recession of 2008 - combines the
insights of earlier generations of Marxist historians with radical
new ideas about the historical process.Reading history against the
grain, Neil Faulkner reveals that what happened in the past was not
predetermined. Choices were frequent and numerous. Different
outcomes - liberation or barbarism - were often possible. Rejecting
the top-down approach of conventional history, Faulkner contends
that it is the mass action of ordinary people that drives great
events.At the beginning of the 21st century - with economic
disaster, war, climate catastrophe and deep class divisions -
humans face perhaps the greatest crisis in the long history of our
species. The lesson of A Marxist History of the World is that,
since we created our past, we can also create a better future.
Combining a fresh analysis of the archaeological evidence with the
traditional historical accounts, Neil Faulkner presents a new
interpretation of the decline and fall of Roman Britain. The
original conquest of Britain was one of the last successes of Roman
military imperialism, whereas the Romans' repeated failures on the
north British frontier shows the limits of this system. A new order
became established in Britain: a centralised, military-bureaucratic
state, governed by a class of super-rich landlords and
apparatchiks, who siphoned wealth out of the provinces to defend
the frontier. As a result the towns declined and the countryside
was depressed. This process of decline led to the great military
crisis of the last fourth century. The Roman imperial army, bled
white by defeats on continental battlefields, withdrew its troops
from Britain to defend the imperial heartlands, and the
Romano-British elite succumbed to a combination of warlord power,
barbarian attack an popular revolt. The study concludes by
discussing the legacy of Roman's and the significance of the
so-called 'Dark Ages'.
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