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"In an age of short attention spans and disaggregated facts, Charles Hill does much to revive two venerable traditions---the classical ideal of statesmanship, and the close engagement with great texts." Henry A. Kissinger<BR><BR>"A remarkable book....Hill is the exemplification of the Clausewitzian coup d'oeil---the ability to see how everything connects to everything else." John Lewis Gaddis, author of The Cold War: A New History<BR><BR>"Charles Hill's Grand Strategies is a gem that combines long and valuable practical experience with the wisdom that comes from a broad and deep knowledge of history, literature, and philosophy to produce a wisdom badly needed by statesmen and diplomats." Donald Kagan, author of Thucydides: The Reinvention of History and The Peloponnesian War<BR><BR>"A triumph of intellectual unification. Ranging globally through history and literature, Hill brilliantly demonstrates how certain key issues have driven grand strategy and statecraft from ancient to postmodern times." Arthur Waldron, author of The Great Wall of China: From History to Myth<BR><BR>"Charles Hill's clear-headed and erudite exploration of the world's literary heritage on the subject of statecraft and the state system opens wide vistas for understanding the past and future of international affairs. This is a convincing and much needed statement of the essential importance of the humanities in preparing the leaders of the future." Norman M. Naimark Stanford University<BR><BR>"Charles Hill's Grand Strategies transcends the tired categories of realism and idealism in the study of politics. Drawing from such as Aristotle and Homer, he spans centuries and circles the globe, always gazing from the standpoint of greatness. A sage and powerful book." Harvey Mansfield, author of Manliness and Machiavelli's Virtue<BR><BR>"The international world of states and their modern system is a literary realm," writes Charles Hill in this powerful work on the practice of international relations. "It is where the greatest issues of the human condition are played out."<BR><BR>A distinguished lifelong diplomat and educator, Hill aims to revive the ancient tradition of statecraft as practiced by humane and broadly educated men and women. Through lucid and compelling discussions of classic literary works from Homer to Rushdie, Grand Strategies represents a merger of literature and international relations, inspired by the conviction that a grand strategist needs to be immersed in classic texts from Sun Tzu to Thucydides to George Kennan, to gain real-world experience in the realms of statecraft, and to bring this learning and experience to bear on contemporary issues.<BR><BR>This fascinating and engaging introduction to the basic concepts of the international order not only defines what it is to build a civil society through diplomacy, justice, and lawful go.
“A truly masterful synthesis. . . . A kaleidoscopic masterpiece that illuminates all it surveys.”--Edward N. Luttwak, American Interest
— Edward N. Luttwak
“Grand Strategies concerns statesmanship and strategy: the uses of power, the fate of alliances, war and peace. It also, happily, provides a tour through the Great Books, giving special attention to nation-states and their vexed relations.”--William Anthony Hay, Wall Street Journal
— William Anthony Hay
"A fascinating book that has the feel of a life''s work. . . . Hill affirms the intellectual endeavor of looking at the world through a literary lens. . . . At a deeper level, the book is about the fragility of order and the struggle of statesmen to balance, restrain, and legitimate state power."--John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs
— John Ikenberry
"The originality of this book lies . . . in the argument that these works have actually shaped the world of nations because of the influence they have on kings, princes, generals, and statesmen. . . . Grand Strategies is an unusual volume, filled with sharp insights about a daunting list of writers and circuitous pathways and detours that eventually lead the reader to hidden destinations. It makes its case diplomatically by drawing the reader into a way of thinking about the political world rather than by pressing a single argument or set of conclusions. It is as original as it is unusual, the rare volume that provokes neither agreement nor disagreement, but rather independent thought about the worlds we have lost and the one we have inherited."—James Piereson, The New Criterion
— James Piereson
Works Discussed in This Book
Prologue: Books of the Red Chamber 1
1 Classical Orders 9
2 Creative Disorder 49
3 Sources of Modern World Order 73
4 What Kind of State? 88
5 Enlightenment: Critique of Diplomacy, State, and System 118
6 America: A New Idea 134
7 Disorder and War 177
8 The Imported State 232
9 The Writer and the State 282
Epilogue: Talleyrand and Everything Else 293
Notes 299
Bibliography 325
Acknowledgments 344
Index 347
american_cicero
Posted January 8, 2011
This book was an enlightening experience. I leaned more from this book about politics and statecraft then my entire undergraduate poli-sci classes. I could not recommend this book enough.
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Overview
"In an age of short attention spans and disaggregated facts, Charles Hill does much to revive two venerable traditions---the classical ideal of statesmanship, and the close engagement with great texts." Henry A. Kissinger<BR><BR>"A remarkable book....Hill is the exemplification of the Clausewitzian coup d'oeil---the ability to see how everything connects to everything else." John Lewis Gaddis, author of The Cold War: A New History<BR><BR>"Charles Hill's Grand Strategies is a gem that ...