Ebook: Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns

Very comprehensive, this book is an attempt by the author to convince us that the nearly exclusive rights to violence contemporary states enjoy is a very new concept. Furthermore, he offers reasonable explanations as to why the change occurred.

My only criticism is that the first chapter is a tad bombastic, as the author clearly enjoys using high brow political science jargon to elucidate his thesis...nonetheless, as soon as you get into the actual history, you'll be hooked.