The character Astro Boy, which was called “child of science” in the 1963 anime series, is related here to Imperial Japan’s wartime policy of science. The term “child of science” was also applied to other characters at the time of the Asia-Pacific War, and intriguingly, the use of it covered not only mechanical but also human children. Seeking to find answers to the question of how such different things could be subsumed under the same term, the focus is on the empire’s policies and discourses of scientific warfare, and how they transformed children’s media of entertainment and education – manga, magazines, toys, and music – and even children’s bodies into weaponry at perceptual and physical levels. The issue of the “weaponization” of human bodies helps to reconsider the military traits and the subhuman qualities of Astro Boy. Extending this to Imperial Japan’s history of child soldiers, and conducting both intratextual and transtextual research of related anime and manga by Osamu Tezuka, this study brings to light the unnarrated life of Tobio, the human original of Astro Boy, as well as the implication of his premature death.

Military comparison between Hannibal and Scipio began early, with their conversation at Ephesus, 193. First rule of generalship was: stay alive as ‘battle manager’; this had to be balanced by felt need for heroic leadership. Both learned warlike skills from relatives (Scipio grew up with three consular uncles and a consular father), but the biggest lesson was to avoid these men’s premature battle deaths. Army reforms are reviewed; Scipio’s are better attested. In logistics, both faced similar problems, but Hannibal’s isolation meant his challenges were greater. For weaponry, Hannibal had to improvise and recycle. Hannibal’s tactics were superior to Roman at the outset, but Scipio learned from his enemy. Both practised ‘Punic’ deception. Neither shone at siege or naval warfare. Hannibal’s struggle for Italian hearts and minds conflicted with his need to extract supplies. On man management, Scipio’s handling of Pleminius was a blemish. Unlike Scipio, Hannibal never faced a mutiny.

This chapter offers a narrative and descriptions of the plot, its participants and purposes, of the Cato Street locality and the conspirators’ weaponry, of the gathering in the Cato Street stable on 23 February 1820, of informers in the group.

Chapter six looks at the operational and tactical levels of strategy and brings forward the phenomenon of substitution. Substitution, or the waterbed effect, occurs as a result of counter-measures and means a displacement of violent activities towards other targets, tactics, territory or time frames. Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers and Nicaragua’s Sandinist National Liberation Front are the two vignettes treated here. The Tigers are notable for their military defeat in 2009 and the SNLF for their ultimate military success in overthrowing the Somoza dictatorship at the end of the 1970s.

This chapter explores the visual sources for violence and warfare created over the millennium from 500 to 1500 in the lands where Islam became a major presence. It divides the copious evidence into three chronological blocks (early, middle and late) to highlight the different visual sources that predominate in each period (architectural decoration, portable objects and illustrated manuscripts). The many scenes of violence depicted on these buildings and objects reflect the unsettled times and places where they were made and the constant occurrence of battles and warfare, some of it with sophisticated weaponry. But these vignettes of warfare and fighting also reflect a more positive view of violence, designed to invoke the prowess and heroism of the object’s owner. This triumphal theme extends to nature and the animal kingdom, as man dominates and tames the often-inhospitable landscape and the wild beasts in it. Many incidents also allude to the legendary and literary past, particularly in Iran, and metaphorically tie the object’s owner (and the viewer) to epic heroes. These many scenes of violence are thus multivalent and require decoding.

Scholars up until the middle of the twentieth century saw Roman warfare as restrained and disciplined. At that point the consensus changed to one that viewed it as fierce and bellicose. This view, in turn, has been challenged in the early twenty-first century, with the argument that Roman conflict was typical for ancient states. Rome’s rise from city-state to empire certainly involved considerable violence, but the available evidence cannot conclusive demonstrate either that it was particularly brutal and aggressive or that its military actions were ordinary for the period. Sources report that Roman battle was especially bloody, but this can be interpreted as a result of culture or of weaponry. We read of large numbers of civilians killed and enslaved, but such accounts need to be viewed critically and compared to the ancient norm. Additionally, the reality and nature of the imperial Pax Romana continues to be debated. The apparent decline in uprisings against Roman rule is worthy of note, but there may have been revolts and wars we do not know about. At this point in time historians are not in a position to definitively state what the nature of Roman military violence was.

Chapter 4 demonstrates links back to Ramesside object preferences, and to precursors of Late Period object typologies. The material culture of everyday life and social practices of the people living at that time demonstrate the Third Intermediate Period as a distinctly defined cultural element within Egyptian society and Egyptology. There were changes in artefact usages and material culture, and implications for understanding characteristics of the object world of the period, and the lifecycles of the Third Intermediate Period population. The domestic material culture also demonstrates aspects of regionality in relation to the political fragmentation of the country. The ceramics of the period identify continuity or changes in storage, dining, and drinking cultures. Alongside ceramics, Chapter 4 also includes objects of personal adornment, tools, weapons, and re-used and salvaged stone. The artefacts and object-world of the settlements allow exploration of the social status of the population, their religious beliefs, the extent of elite emulation and self-sufficiency regarding elite object replication, the extent of object re-use and recycling, and the creation and availability of materials for object manufacture.

The beginning of the twentieth century coincided with the end of kruso’b autonomy. The authoritarian Mexican President Porfirio Díaz sent regular armed forces under General Ignacio Bravo to Yucatán to attack the Caste War rebels. The massive and long campaign began in 1899. Protected by three Mexican army battalions and Yucatecan militia units, peons drove a path into the area controlled by the kruso’b with clearings of up to 300 meters in width to avoid assault. Military posts were set up every ten kilometers. Although they provided some resistance, the kruso’b were unable to stop the advancing government forces. The military campaign endured for three years. Chan Santa Cruz was occupied on May 4, 1901.