Recent Books
170 «¬® ̄°±² ³««³°® ́
ideas. The epic struggle between France
and its European competitors rocked the
international system with constant
warfare until 1815, when the British and
the Prussians defeated Napoleon at
Waterloo. The monarchies survived, and a
sort o order emerged. Nonetheless, the
repercussions o these wars were felt for
the rest o the century. Most books on
this period concentrate on the famous
battles, from Austerlitz and Jena to
Borodino and Waterloo, or on the ¥gure
o¤ Napoleon himself, delving into his
reformist politics and how he transformed
the practice o war. Mikaberidze goes
much further, providing vital context,
illuminating the social and political forces
unleashed by the revolution, revealing the
impact o technological advances, and
analyzing the complex interactions among
domestic politics, commercial interests,
alliance diplomacy, and imperial endeav-
ors. The global consequences o the
Napoleonic Wars—often neglected in
such studies—also occupy much o the
book. Mikaberidze shows, for instance,
how Spain’s struggles aected its ability to
hold on to its South American colonies
and how the United States saw the chaos
on the European continent as an opportu-
nity to invade Canada. This is an extraor-
dinary work o scholarship. Despite the
book’s length, scope, and detail, the
narrative never ags. It is hard to see how
anyone will improve on this account.All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon’s
Perspective on Climate Change
BY MICHAEL T. KLARE. Metropolitan
Books, 2019, 304 pp.Although the Trump administration has
embraced an o¾cial policy o denial, the
reality o climate change—manifested inA Question of Power: Electricity and the
Wealth of Nations
BY ROBERT BRYCE. PublicAairs,
2020, 352 pp.
This informative and highly readable
book explains the basic physics o electric-
ity, the modern history o electric power
since the 1880s, the role that electricity
plays today in both production and
consumption, and the costs inicted on a
society when its electrical grid is badly
damaged, as Iraq’s was by U.S. bombing
in 2003 and as Lebanon’s was by Israeli
bombing in 2006. Bryce persuasively
claims that world electricity demand will
double between 2015 and 2040, despite
big improvements in the e¾ciency o
generating and distributing electric
power. In his view, there is no way that
climate change can be arrested by the use
o renewable fuels alone. Nuclear power
(along with natural gas) will be required
i the world is serious about greatly
slashing coal consumption.
Military, Scienti¥c, and
Technological
Lawrence D. Freedman
The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History
BY ALEXANDER MIKABERIDZE.
Oxford University Press, 2020, 960 pp.
T
he regime that came to power
in the wake o the French
Revolution posed a unique
threat to its rivals in Europe. Other
European powers feared both its military
strength and the spread o republican