This book, originally published in 1961, examines the wars from the age of absolute rulers, and the destructive impact of revolutionary and democratic government on this state of affairs. It discusses the relation between war and policy, and takes into account how the character of war in the first half of the twentieth century affected international diplomacy. 'A tour de force in the way it embraces and weaves together the political, economic and military factors' B. H. Liddell Hart 'A work which sums up succinctly the learning of a life-time.' New Statesman