Thanks, to Ishmael, for this link.
I read Sir John Glubb’s essay on the recommendation of a school teacher in 1977. I thought his case was strong then, with nothing to go on, so the fact that I still hold to his theory of the Life of Empires may just reflect a form of adolescent conditioning. The summary at al fin is well worth a read, and provides a link to the full PDF.
How does this theory fit in with much of the literary rediscovery going on with the New Right? In my reading of earlier 20th century sources I still place great value on Stoddard for his research and balance. However, Stoddard is a decadent scholar, with a shallow grasp of ancient history. Trust me, when Stoddard immersed in one subject [Islam, Haiti] he excelled to the extent the source material permitted him. But his general view of the cycles of civilization—particularly his misunderstanding of the Ancient Greeks—mark him as the defensive-minded, pessimistic, materialist, a figure far different than Spengler, who was one of those men who seemingly popped up “out of time.”
In fight speak, Stoddard would be the conditioning coach and Spengler the head coach with the battle plan. Stoddard and Spengler were both amazing scholars, but Stoddard was stuck in time and Spengler saw the world from an extra-chronological perspective.
For readers who have not read broadly on world history, particularly ancient and medieval history, who are delving into policy-focused literature from a century ago, I highly recommend reading Glubb to help bring things into focus, help process the valuable and sometimes loose-ended research of Stoddard and better comprehend the theories of a thinker like Spengler.
The editor at al fin has a further reading list which is superb, to which I would add Jacob Burckhardt, The Greeks and Greek Civilization. Burckhardt’s work on Greece was so heretical at the time that he blocked publication of this book during his lifetime.
JL:
Glubb Pasha, he of the Jordanian Arab Legion!
Fascinating to see him as an author. One of them Brits who just loved the Arabs, like Lawrence.
An important figure in the mess in the Near East from the 30s on. Worked for the Sauds, as well.
I'll definately look the old boy up. He saw the Edwardian Age thru to the modern, like his peers. Enormous change!
Wonder what he'd have thought of whats going on over there currently. Shame we'll never know.
Thanks for the recommendation.
Crackpots lie me might be hard on Britain for its mercantile atrocities, but I just love reading about the old British adventurers. Probably the biggest nut of the bunch was Chinese Gordon.
Do you have a favorite, Brit, Bernie? I'm sure you know a lot more about the WWII guys than I do.
Jim, besides being an airplane guy, I'm a WW II guy. Figures, I was born in 1943(!) and I tell folks I was actually IN WWII. My ration stamp book has my occupation as "infant", but figure that qualifies me.
I like Gen. Wm. Slim, he of Burma fame. He told his officers that if they screwed up, he'd "break them, in front of their regiments". He was from the lower classes, like yours truly.
Not a perfumed prince, like Montbatten. Or that prima donna Montgomery.
Orde Wingate might also interest you. He WAS a real Limey Loon! Carried around a fly wisk and an alarm clock, had a beard, too. Drove the twits crazy. This one guy saw him in his HQ., wearing only a towel around his waist, eyeing a map.
Oh, yeah! Doubt he dressed for dinner in the jungle, what? Pip pip! Bad form, Reggie.
"Shimi" (Lord) Lovat, he of the Commandoes, remember Peter Lawford playing him in "Longest Day"? I always wanted my own piper. Oh, well!
See what you think.
How's your sons house moving going?
The Life of Empires by Sir John Glubb is a very good book. Here's another in the same vein.
"An Inquiry into the Permanent Causes of the Decline and Fall of Powerful and Wealthy Nations. Designed To Shew How The Prosperity Of The British Empire May Be Prolonged" by William Playfair
rwj.freeshell.org/16575-h.htm
A great quote from the book,"... In looking over the globe, if we fix our eyes on those places where wealth formerly was accumulated, and where commerce flourished, we see them, at the present day, peculiarly desolated and degraded.
From the borders of the Persian Gulf, to the shores of the Baltic Sea; from Babylon and Palmyra, Egypt, Greece, and Italy; to Spain and Portugal, and the whole circle of the Hanseatic League, we trace the same ruinous remains of ancient greatness, presenting a melancholy contrast with the poverty, indolence, and ignorance, of the present race of inhabitants, and an irresistible proof of the mutability of human affairs.
As in the hall, in which there has been a sumptuous banquet, we perceive the fragments of a feast now become a prey to beggars and banditti; if, in some instances, the spectacle is less wretched and disgusting; it is, because the banquet is not entirely over, and the guests have not all yet risen from the table..."
If we want to keep our Empire from falling we should study the Byzantine Empire. It lasted for over 1000 years. What ever they did we should first just copy it. We can figure out the rest later.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire
This presentation based on his book "The Collapse of Complex Societies" by Joseph Tainter might interest you.
m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DG0R09YzyuCI&ved=0ahUKEwijoObr2dLKAhXKjiwKHcckBTQQtwIIcjAV&usg=AFQjCNGvgGtEfM27zbHbdeeCDHbu51vDSQ