Description
(Dis)connected Empires takes the reader on a global journey to explore the triangle formed during the sixteenth century between the Portuguese empire, the empire of Kotte in Sri Lanka, and the Catholic Monarchy of the Spanish Habsburgs. It explores nine decades of connections, cross-cultural diplomacy, and dialogue, to answer one troubling question: why, in the end, did one side decide to conquer the other? To find the answer, Biedermann explores the imperial ideas that shaped the politics of Renaissance Iberia and sixteenth-century Sri Lanka. (Dis)connected Empires argues that, whilst some of these ideas and the political idioms built around them were perceived as commensurate by the various parties involved, differences also emerged early on. This prepared the ground for a new kind of conquest politics, which changed the inter-imperial game at the end of the sixteenth century. The transition from suzerainty-driven to sovereignty-fixated empire-building changed the face of Lankan and Iberian politics forever, and is of relevance to global historians at large. Through its scrutiny of diplomacy, political letter-writing, translation practices, warfare, and art, (Dis)connected Empires paints a troubling panorama of connections breeding divergence and leading to communicational collapse. It examines a key chapter in the pre-history of British imperialism in Asia, highlighting how diplomacy and mutual understandings can, under certain conditions, produce conquest.
About the Author
Zoltan Biedermann, Associate Professor of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies at University College London, is a historian of early modern global connections with a focus on the Portuguese Empire in Asia. His interests include diplomacy, imperial ideas, cartography, and the politics of space. He received his PhD in 2006 from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris and the Universidade Nova in Lisbon. He has been a research fellow at UCLA, Assistant Professor at Birkbeck College London, Visiting Assistant Professor at Brown University, and Maitre de conferences invite at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris.
Reviews
...(Dis)connected Empires is an impressive work of erudition.It is a work of real distinction that will offer many rewards to specialist readers of global history, Asian connections, and colonialism who decide to take the journey along the tortuous, connected routes described so eloquently by Biedermann. * Nira Wickramasinghe, Leiden University, Journal of Asian Studies *
... (Dis)connected Empires is an impressive work of erudition. It is a work of real distinction that will offer many rewards to readers of global history, Asian connections, and colonialism who decide to take the journey along the tortuous, connected routes described so eloquently by Biedermann. * Nira Wickramasinghe, Leiden University, Journal of Asian Studies *
... this theoretically ambitious and empirically rich work ... makes a compelling case for why Portugal's early imperial engagements in Asia deserve as much attention as the paradigmatic Spanish or British and French cases. * Ananya Chakravarti, Georgetown University, American Historical Review *
... thoughtful and thought-provoking ... this book should enjoy a broad readership because of its deep commitment to methodological reflection. * Ricardo Padron, University of Virginia, AAG Review of Books *
... a rich, lucid, captivating and thought-provoking study ... an important contribution to the burgeoning historiography on the Habsburg Empire's polycentrism ... feeds into a broader debate about connected histories. * Stephan Hanss, University of Manchester, Bulletin of Spanish Studies *
... a work that, through the dialogues it maintains ... overcomes Iberian insularity ... draws comparisons and contrasts with other early modern societies, including those of Early America. * Jorge Flores, University of Lisbon, Cuadernos de Historia Moderna *
Book Information
ISBN 9780192884183
Author Zoltan Biedermann
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 426g
Dimensions(mm) 233mm * 157mm * 14mm
About the Author
Zoltan Biedermann, Associate Professor of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies at University College London, is a historian of early modern global connections with a focus on the Portuguese Empire in Asia. His interests include diplomacy, imperial ideas, cartography, and the politics of space. He received his PhD in 2006 from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris and the Universidade Nova in Lisbon. He has been a research fellow at UCLA, Assistant Professor at Birkbeck College London, Visiting Assistant Professor at Brown University, and Maitre de conferences invite at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris.
Reviews
...(Dis)connected Empires is an impressive work of erudition.It is a work of real distinction that will offer many rewards to specialist readers of global history, Asian connections, and colonialism who decide to take the journey along the tortuous, connected routes described so eloquently by Biedermann. * Nira Wickramasinghe, Leiden University, Journal of Asian Studies *
... (Dis)connected Empires is an impressive work of erudition. It is a work of real distinction that will offer many rewards to readers of global history, Asian connections, and colonialism who decide to take the journey along the tortuous, connected routes described so eloquently by Biedermann. * Nira Wickramasinghe, Leiden University, Journal of Asian Studies *
... this theoretically ambitious and empirically rich work ... makes a compelling case for why Portugal's early imperial engagements in Asia deserve as much attention as the paradigmatic Spanish or British and French cases. * Ananya Chakravarti, Georgetown University, American Historical Review *
... thoughtful and thought-provoking ... this book should enjoy a broad readership because of its deep commitment to methodological reflection. * Ricardo Padron, University of Virginia, AAG Review of Books *
... a rich, lucid, captivating and thought-provoking study ... an important contribution to the burgeoning historiography on the Habsburg Empire's polycentrism ... feeds into a broader debate about connected histories. * Stephan Hanss, University of Manchester, Bulletin of Spanish Studies *
... a work that, through the dialogues it maintains ... overcomes Iberian insularity ... draws comparisons and contrasts with other early modern societies, including those of Early America. * Jorge Flores, University of Lisbon, Cuadernos de Historia Moderna *
Book Information
ISBN 9780192884183
Author Zoltan Biedermann
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 426g
Dimensions(mm) 233mm * 157mm * 14mm
