About this title: About national and international power in the 'modern' or Post Renaissance period. Explains how the various powers have risen and fallen over the five centuries since the formation of the 'new monarchies' in Western Europe.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 1988
Description: Fair+ 8vo. {006930} The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy. ISBN. Published by Random House in 1988. TRADE PAPERBACK 8vo History {Book Condition} FAIR+ {Book Condition Details} Binding: broken, Cover: edge wear, minor soiling, light creasing on Spine, light creasing, rubbing. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1989-01-15
ISBN-13:9780679720195ISBN:0679720197
Description: Good. Pages are clean and unmarked, though tanned. Cover shows very light wear.; 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! Free Delivery Confirmation! Ships same or next business day! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1989-01-15
ISBN-13:9780679720195ISBN:0679720197
Description: Good. Some wear on cover. May have personal inscription, notes, hi-lights, underlines. Otherwise in very good condition. Usually ships next business day. Satisfaction Guaranteed. For faster delivery, we suggest the Expedited Shipping Option. Buy with Pride! Zinc Media, Feel the Power of Knowledge! read more
Edition: Book Club (BCE/BOMC)
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 1988
Description: Very Good- As issued No Jacket. Quality paperback book club edition. Spine lean and curl, corner bumps, and some light to moderate shopwear. Text is clean. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Inc
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780679720195ISBN:0679720197
Description: Paperback. Used. May include moderately worn cover, writing, markings or slight discoloration. SKU: 23847126 All orders shipped within 1 business day. 14 day money back guarantee ISBN: 9780679720195 Used. May include moderately worn cover, writing, markings or slight discoloration. SKU: 23847126 All orders shipped within 1 business day. 14 day money back guarantee. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780679720195ISBN:0679720197
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Minor curling at three corners. No creasing. Text is clean and bright. Binding is tight. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 704 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: BoMC
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House, New York
Date Published: 1987
Description: Illus. w/maps & charts. VG; damage to upper cor. of last few pp. & small hole on bk. cov.. 677 pp., Economic change and military conflict from 1500 to 2000, w/many maps & charts. read more
"As Kennedy puts it in his "Introduction," "This is a book about national and international power in the "modern"--that is, post-Renaissance--period. It seeks to trace and to explain how the various great powers have risen and fallen. . . ." And, on the same page:
"The `military conflict' referred to in the book's subtitle is therefore always examined in the context of `economic change.' The triumph of any one Great Power in this period, or the collapse of another, has usually been the consequence of lengthy fighting by its armed forces; but it has also been the consequence of the more or less efficient utilization of the state's productive resources in wartime, and, further in the background, of the way in which that state's economy has been rising or falling, relative to the other leading nations. . . ."
He examines a variety of historical instances in which empires or countries spend more on their empires or expansion than they can afford. Too much expenditure on defense and the military drains the national treasure and wealth and can lead to an erosion in the vitality and power of that society.
Earlier examples of imperial overreach or overstretch include the Hapsburg Empire (1519-1659). From 1660-1815, other examples are adduced. So, too, periods such as 1815-1885, 1885-1918, 1919-1942.
He goes on to examine the bipolar world after World War II (the United States versus the Soviet Union) and the time there following. He is pessimistic about the United States maintaining its dominance. Two decades after the book was written, that fear has not come about. On the other hand, the Soviet Union did suffer from its "overreach" and has not survived as a major power in a bipolar system. Today's Russia is simply not a superpower anymore. Thus, his fear for the American future has not yet come about. Will it? If he is right and the United States overreaches, then we would expect decline. If his view is correct, there is a challenge to American decision makers to make sure that this does not happen. Are they up to the task? As historians might note, we must wait until the future to know.
Thus, while some of his forecasts clearly have not yet come about, he does produce a rich historical analysis of the relationship between the internal characteristics of a society, the international context, and ultimate success or failure. This book is well worth grappling with. . . ."
""To paraphrase Bismarck's famous remark, all of these Powers are traveling on 'the stream of Time,' which they can 'neither create nor direct,' but upon which they can 'steer with more or less skill and experience'" (Kennedy 540)."
"Densely loaded with economic, demographic, and other historical data makes this book's conclusions all the more solid and reasonable. The book has aged well since its publication, now decades old (The small exception being the final chapter, in which he proceeds to contemplate the "approaching" 21st century). Kennedy's explanation for why different empires have risen to power and then burned out and fallen by the wayside is not cheery when one looks at America now. If anything, we seem to be moving faster than most along the path he described."
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