The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers

‘A brilliantly original book…It is intended for the intelligent layman as well as the academic historian, combining in Toynbee-esque manner the sweeping conception with careful attention to historical detail’ Financial Times

‘This book is falling out of briefcases all over Washington DC, both because it looks and sounds erudite and because it purports to answer an increasingly common question: Has the United States already embarked on its journey into the sunset of empire? It is administering a lot of frissons to trend-watchers’ Christopher Hitchens

‘Outstanding…He ranges across five centuries and around the whole world. He seems to have read every relevant book in every possible language. And he has produced a general argument so deceptively simple that no politician, however busy, should ignore or misunderstand it’ Observer

‘One of the masterpieces of modern historical writing’ Daily Telegraph

‘A masterpiece of exposition. It is erudite and elegantly written’ New Society

‘A remarkable book…long, clever, often funny, and crammed with remarkable insights; it is tinged with the genius that unravels complexity’ Evening Standard

‘Shows a master historian’s ability to use evidence like a boxing champion’s uppercut’ TES

‘One of those rare (and irresistible) books which successfully combine the scope and sweep of ‘popular’ history with the discriminating rigour of professional historiography, making it both a bloody good read and a thought-provoking one’ Listener

Paul Kennedy is Professor of History and Director of International Security Studies. He is also co-director, with Bruce Russett, of the Secretariat to the Independent Working Group on the future of the United Nations, an international commission which is producing a report for the Secretary General entitled The United Nations in its Second Half Century. He also co-ordinates the Olin Foundation Fellowship Program in Military and Strategic History, the Bradley Foundation annual lecture series and conferences on military and diplomatic history, the Bradley Foundation Scholarships in Diplomatic and International History and the Smith Richardson Foundation Programme on the Historical Roots of Contemporary International and Regional Issues. With Professor Bruce Russett he co-chairs the MacArthur Foundation program on Peace and International Co-operation. In addition to teaching an undergraduate course (Global Security Issues, Old and New) and with Bruce Russett, a graduate course (International Security Studies: Historical and Political Science Approaches) on the history of international security, he has begun research on a new book on the history of the United Nations. He continues to deliver numerous guest lectures and addresses worldwide, including a presentation to the Bruno Kreisky Forum in Vienna, and has received several honorary degrees in the past year. He is on the advisory boards of numerous journals and institutions.