Forged in War, R. David Lankes
Forged in War, R. David Lankes
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Forged in War
How a Century of War Created Today’s Information Society

Author: R. David Lankes

Narrator: Tom Perkins

Unabridged: 9 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/15/2021

Synopsis

Many of what we think of as Information Age tools and media—computers, cell phones, the Internet, encryption, and more—evolved directly out of modern warfare. These tools started with World War I, accelerated through World War II and the Cold War, and now play a center role in both declared and non-declared conflicts like election interference and cyberbattles.

We buy phones and smart speakers because they are new and unlock great potential. Voice assistants like Siri and Alexa help us do our work and answer that one piece of trivia that bugs us. Yet these devices are data gatherers. They collect, repackage, and monetize our questions, purchases, photographs, web surfing to form a data industry now larger than the oil industry.

Well over 100 years ago the data industry put in place a business model that trades our attention for news and entertainment. That model has evolved into a complex art and science of message targeting and content ownership that has splintered communities while simultaneously concentrating media ownership to a few massive corporations. Forged in War takes a critical look at the systems we use and how we ended up in a society that values data over personal liberty and commerce over the public good.

About R. David Lankes

R. David Lankes is a professor and the director of the University of South Carolina's School of Library and Information Science. Lankes has always been interested in combining theory and practice to create active research projects that make a difference. His work has been funded by organizations such as the MacArthur Foundation, The Institute for Library and Museum Services, NASA, the US Department of Education, the US Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, the US State Department, and the American Library Association.

Lankes is a passionate advocate for libraries and their essential role in today's society, earning him the American Library Association's Ken Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship in 2016. He also seeks to understand how information approaches and technologies can be used to transform industries. In this capacity, he has served on advisory boards and study teams in the fields of libraries, telecommunications, education, and transportation, including at the National Academies. He has been a visiting fellow at the National Library of Canada, The Harvard School of Education, and was the firl fellow of ALA's Office for Information Technology Policy. His book The Atlas of New Librarianship won the 2012 ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Award for the Best Book in Library Literature.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Brendan on September 28, 2024

Have you ever asked yourself, "Geez, what is Russia's deal?" Well, Mark Galeotti is here to explain! His newest book, Forged in War, is a (relatively) short look at the life of what we call Russia today but was called a lot of things during its lifetime. The main focus is on the numerous wars fought......more

Goodreads review by Caleb on February 24, 2025

Forged in War: A Military History of Russia, from Its Beginnings to Today by Mark Galeotti explores the military history of Russia from its emergence under the Viking/Slavic hybrid city states to its active war with Ukraine. Throughout the author shows how the different authoritarian regimes through......more

Goodreads review by Nightwitch on September 17, 2024

I found this book to be a difficult one to review. The conceit - the history of Russia told via the history of individual battles - is a good one, and up until the nineteenth century it works really well. Of necessity Galeotti gives us a potted history of what else is going on in Russia (or Rus' or......more

Goodreads review by JorgVonRiminsk on February 17, 2025

Waste of 34 euros. Military history is not Galeotti`s forte and this book confirms it once again. List of my issues with this book is long: - Autor often omits details critical to understanding the events he describes (ex. viking policies towards the polities they ride and thus dynamics of varangian......more

Goodreads review by Lily on January 02, 2025

In this complicated and complex history of Russia and its military past and present, Mark Galeotti focuses on a series of questions about how and why Russia goes to war, forges its national identity in it, and how these wars impact their history, politics, culture, and reputation in and out of the c......more

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