The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000

Front Cover
Vintage Books, 1989 - Business & Economics - 677 pages
2 Reviews
With 200,000 hardcover copies in print, this book has received worldwide attention. Kennedy explains how the various world powers have risen and fallen over the five centuries since the formation of the "new monarchies" in Western Europe.

From inside the book

 

Results 1-3 of 93

Page 41
Spain suddenly made peace with the Dutch early in 1648 , finally recognizing
their full independence ; but this was done to deprive France of an ally , and the
Franco - Habsburg struggle continued . It became purely a Franco - Spanish one
 ...
Page 107
When the great battle finally occurred , at Poltava in July 1709 , the Russian army
was vastly superior in numbers and in good defensive positions . Not only did this
encounter wipe out the Swedish force , but Charles ' s subsequent flight into ...
Page 403
Finally , of course , it had been a fundamental axiom of American policy after
1945 that a strong and independent Europe ( that is , independent from Russian
domination ) was in the United States ' long - term interests and would help to ...

Where's the rest of this book?

What people are saying - Write a review

The rise and fall of the great powers: economic change and military conflict from 1500 to 2000

User Review  - Not Available - Book Verdict

Yale historian Kennedy surveys the ebb and flow of power among the major states of Europe from the 16th centurywhen Europe's preeminence first took shapethrough and beyond the present erawhen great ... Read full review

User Review - Flag as inappropriate

Learning from History, July 19, 2003
<P>
Kennedy chronicles the rise of the Great Powers starting with the Ming Dynasty in China and taking us all the way to the contemporary times of the 1980s.
By analyzing world history through the prisms of economical, political, and military status of each great rising power, Kennedy fuses a theory of why certain countries throughout history (1500-present) rose to be regional or world powers and why they later collapsed.
<P>
As the other reviewers noted, Kennedy's book falls short of accurately predicting the changes that were to follow the publication date of his book (fall of Russia, Asian market crises). Nevertheless this book is a valuable historical resource. 

Contents

The Rise of the Western World
3
World Power Centers in the Sixteenth Century
5
2
18
Copyright

32 other sections not shown

Other editions - View all

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
Paul Kennedy
Limited preview - 2010
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict ...
Paul M. Kennedy
Snippet view - 1987
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict ...
Paul M. Kennedy
Snippet view - 1987
View all »

Common terms and phrases

agricultural alliance Allied already American armed army Austria balance become Britain British campaign caused century China colonial consequence considerable costs decades decisive decline defense despite difficult Dutch early East eastern economic effect Empire especially Europe European example existed expansion exports fact fighting Finally fleet forces foreign France France's French further German given greater growth Habsburg hand imperial important increasing industrial interest investment Italy Japan Japanese land larger late later leading least less major manufacturing military million move naval navy North output overseas peace percent perhaps period Plan political population position possessed problems production relative remained rise Russia seemed share ships Soviet Spain Spanish strategical strength struggle successful Table territories tion trade troops turn United USSR weapons West western

References to this book

About the author (1989)

Paul Kennedy is the author or editor of thirteen books, including Preparing for the Twenty-first Century and The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, which has been translated into more than twenty languages. He serves on the editorial board of numerous scholarly journals and has written for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic Monthly, and several other publications. Educated at Newcastle University and Oxford University, he is a former fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton University and of the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung in Bonn.

Bibliographic information

QR code for The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
TitleThe Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000
History/Political Science
AuthorsPaul Kennedy, Paul M. Kennedy, Professor Paul Kennedy
Editionillustrated
PublisherVintage Books, 1989
Original fromthe University of California
Digitized8 Sep 2008
ISBN0679720197, 9780679720195
Length677 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Business & Economics / Economic History
History / Modern / 20th Century
History / World
  
Export CitationBiBTeX EndNote RefMan