Small Wars, Faraway Places by Michael Burleigh

Small Wars, Faraway Places (Viking Hardcover in Protected Dust Jacket)

A Sweeping History of the Insurgencies and Colonial Conflicts That Shaped the Post-War World

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Small Wars, Faraway Places: Global Insurrection and the Making of the Modern World, 1945-1965
• Author: Michael Burleigh
• Publisher: Viking, New York
• Publication Date: 2013
• ISBN-13: 9780670025459
• Edition Details: Viking (New York) hardcover edition, 2013.
• Binding: Publisher's hardcover with white paper-covered boards and blue cloth spine, issued with a dust jacket.
• Physical Format: Large, thick octavo hardcover. With map illustrations by Hugo Bicheno.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good (VG)
• Exterior / Boards: The white paper-covered boards and blue cloth spine are clean overall, with a few tiny specks. The front board has one bumped and creased lower fore-edge corner. The fore-edge shows slight toning.
• Interior: The text block is sound and tight, with cream pages and light toning at the edges. No markings, foxing or writing are visible in the pages examined. There is a small mark near the fore-edge margin on one page.
• The Dust Jacket: Present and protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover. The front and back panels are otherwise clean. The spine shows some dark marks and scuffing, a small light stain near the lower middle, and slight wear at the spine ends. Graded Very Good.

Synopsis & Historical Value

Small Wars, Faraway Places, published by Viking in 2013, is Michael Burleigh's history of the insurgencies, colonial conflicts and Cold War proxy struggles fought between 1945 and 1965. Drawing on new archival research, it examines the many largely forgotten hot wars that followed the collapse of European empires in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The chapters range across Korea, Malaya, the Philippines, Indochina, Algeria, Kenya, Cuba and Vietnam, among others. Burleigh follows how these conflicts shaped the modern world, including the argument that America took on the role of policeman of the developing world.

Reviewers have noted the author's engaging wit and character-driven narrative, as well as the sheer density of names, dates and places. For readers of Africana and military history, it offers wider context for the decolonisation wars on the African continent, such as Kenya and Algeria. This is a used collectible copy, kept in a protected dust jacket.

Author Profile: Michael Burleigh

Michael Burleigh was born in London in 1955. He read Medieval and Modern History at University College London and holds a PhD in Medieval History from Bedford College. He has held posts at Oxford, the LSE, Cardiff University, Washington and Lee University and Stanford University, and is Engelsberg Chair of History and Global Affairs at LSE Ideas.

His book The Third Reich: A New History won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction in 2001. Other notable works include The Best of Times, The Worst of Times and Day of the Assassins.

Small Wars Faraway Places Burleigh · Michael Burleigh hardcover · post-war insurgencies history · decolonisation wars 1945-1965 · Cold War proxy conflicts book · Viking 2013 Burleigh dust jacket