Preface

I embarked on this project in the early 1980s, intent on producing a single book on power relations in human societies. It was intended to contain a few empirical case studies that would accompany some theoretical reflections on power. However, the case studies grew and grew into a four-volume historical narrative of power relations. Volume 1, published in 1986, contained a history of power in human societies from the beginning to just before the Industrial Revolution. At that point, I intended to produce only a second volume that would bring the story up to the present time. That volume also grew uncontrollably, and indeed, when it was published in 1993, it only covered the most advanced countries of the world in the period 1760–1914. I have been at work on Volumes 3 and 4 since 1993 – although my work was interrupted by several forays that produced books on fascism, ethnic cleansing, and American foreign policy. In Volume 3, I decided I had to rectify an omission in Volume 2, the neglect of the global empires created by the most advanced countries. These are, of course, essential for an understanding of modern societies. Consequently, this present volume starts in the empires well before 1914 and finishes in 1945. This meant that a Volume 4 would be necessary, taking my narrative of power from 1945 to the present day. As I have been working on these two volumes alongside each other, Volume 4 will be published a few months after this one.

I hope the reader will excuse this story of much-delayed culmination. I am an incurable empiricist who must support every generalization made with a mass of supporting data. This has involved a great deal of research.