Lo llamaron paz : La violencia de los imperios

"They give the false name of 'government' to plunder, slaughter, and theft; and where they create a wasteland, they call it peace"—Tacitus put these words into the mouth of a man defending his lands against Roman legions. From the 15th century onward, European empires took these ancient practices to an unprecedented scale, grounding their conquests in widespread looting, slavery, and pillage. Asserting a right to the unilateral use of force, these empires amassed global power over the years. In a narrative spanning from Asia to the Americas, Lauren Benton demonstrates how the violence wielded by empires defined the very nature of war and peace. Constant clashes and armed interventions established a state of perpetual "de facto" war across the globe. These intermittent conflicts unleashed atrocities ranging from sudden massacres to protracted campaigns of dispossession and extermination.