Using humanistic principles to strip away the jargon and narrowness inherent in much of modern-day political scholarship, this historical encyclopedia reclaims the breadth of vision, the privileging of factual evidence over theory, and the moral tenor prevalent in classical political inquiry. Over 6,000 alphabetically arranged entries accompanied by 29 maps make this single-authored set the definitive desktop reference work on international relations and international history. The book's primary focus is upon the rise of the Great Powers and the course of world civilizations, their formative wars and diplomatic, political and economic relations. But a serious effort is made to cover all of the smaller and less powerful regions and their local history, along with how progressive inclusion into the modern state system affected them, both for good and ill. Written with elegant clarity and leavened by healthy doses of professional skepticism and humor, this thoroughly cross-referenced work addresses general as well as specialized readers seeking clear and concise sketches of the topics, simple and complex, that have shaped political and historical developments in our world.
The work takes firm stands on important issues. It is not morally neutral on the meaning of historical persons or events. But it is eminently fair: its standard of objectivity and judgment has been to write about all nations, religions, and events as a historian without country or religion, in the words of John Quincy Adams. While remaining deeply serious and cognizant of the role of the tragic in human history, this book often displays biting wit and overall personality—a great benefit of the single-author approach. Whether or not readers agree with a given interpretation, they are always paid the deep respect of having their intellect minds and moral consciousness engaged with the deeper meaning of the history of international public affairs.
