The Sources of Social Power

\"Distinguishingfoursourcesofpowerinhumansocieties-ideological,economic,militaryandpolitical-TheSourcesofSocialPowertracestheirinterrelationsthroughouthumanhistory.Inthisfirstvolume,MichaelMannexaminesinterrelationsbetweentheseelementsfromneolithictimes,throughancientNearEasterncivilizations,theclassicalMediterraneanageandmedievalEurope,uptojustbeforetheIndustrialRevolutioninEngland.Itoffersexplanationsoftheemergenceofthestateandsocialstratification;ofcity-states,militaristicempiresandthepersistentinteractionbetweenthem;oftheworldsalvationreligions;andoftheparticulardynamismofmedievalandearlymodernEurope.Itendsbygeneralizingaboutthenatureofoverallsocialdevelopment,thevaryingformsofsocialcohesionandtheroleofclassesandclassstruggleinhistory.Firstpublishedin1986,thisneweditionincludesanewprefaceinvolume1bytheauthorexaminingtheimpactandlegacyofthework\"--,