Does a system of great powers necessarily imply a struggle for world primacy? Do great states merely hold onto what is theirs, or do they reach for more? Anthony D'Agostino offers a fascinating new answer to these questions through a fundamental reassessment of the international history of the first half of the twentieth century. From the spatial limits of a purely European great power politics the book looks out to the new horizon of world politics. From the time limits of 1914 to 1945 it considers the interface with nineteenth-century imperialism at one end and the impact of the world wars on the Cold War at the other. This is a global retelling of the expansion of Europe coming up against its limits in the most violent conflicts and explosive social movements yet known to history, the two world wars, the Great Depression, and the Russian and Chinese revolutions.

‘Drawing on an impressive range of sources, Anthony D'Agostino analyzes the collapse of the European balance of power and the emergence of a new world order in the era of the two world wars. The book is all the more timely now that the era of superpowers, whose rise he describes so well, seems to be coming to an end.’

Professor David Kaiser - William B. Pratt Chair of Military History, US Naval War College

‘A fascinating new approach to the international politics of the interwar era that will be of enduring value to both students and scholars alike.’

Professor Geoffrey Roberts - University College Cork

‘This highly original and readable account of Great Power imperial rivalries reveals lines of continuity and change not often addressed in books of more limited scope. D’Agostino’s central thesis provides fresh insights into the course of both World Wars as well as their aftermath.’

Dr Zara Steiner - Emeritus Fellow, University of Cambridge

‘A fresh synthesis. This work incorporates the significant findings of the historical scholarship that has and is revising long-held previous interpretations. Rather than a discursive and disjointed account, it is a comprehensive, brilliantly coherent, insightful and fluent international history. A remarkable achievement.’

Jon Jacobson - Professor of History Emeritus, University of California, Irvine

'Anthony D’Agostino’s new book is a genuinely new and exciting take on the history of international relations in the first half of the twentieth century, and will be a very satisfying read for those calling for the discipline to finally overcome its Eurocentric perspective.'

Source: The RUSI Journal