After studying political science and economics as an undergraduate, Leonard Dudley took his Ph.D. in economics at Yale University. He is currently Professor of Economics at the Université de Montréal, where he teaches courses in public economics and international economics. Author of numerous papers in scholarly journals on the economic aspects of international relations, he has been a visiting professor at the University of Bamberg, Germany, and the Institute d’Etudes Politiques of Paris. His present research is on the explanation of international and intra-state conflict. “A very thoughtful and interesting piece. Dudley shows a masterly grasp of complex issues and is dealing with subject matter that is vital for us all to think through thoroughly”. Douglas C. North, Professor of Economics, Washington University.

• Editor's Preface vii Preface xiAcknowledgments xiiIntroduction 1Patterns of the Past 4The Limits to State Power 7Eight Key Innovations 9Technological Determinism? 121 Ziggurats in the Sand 15The Two Rivers 19The Development of Writing 23The Origin of Bureaucracy 28The First Complex Societies 34Writing and the Emergence of Civil 412 The Age of Gilgamesh 47Of Walls and Warfare 50Military Conquest and Con 53From City-state to Empire 60Private Property and Pace Rule 67Frontier Games 713 The Shattered Mirror 77 The Roman State at the Height of its Power 80Military Problems of the Later Roman Empire 84Changes in the Internal and External Margins 87Military and Economic Explanations of Rome's Failure 90Technology and the Fall of Rome 964 Hexagon Dynamics 101 The Size and Shape of the Medieval State 104Developments in Metallurgy and Arms 112The Turning Point for France 118The Royal Fiscal Machine 123The Shell of the Nation State 1315 The Eclipse of the Caravans 139The Beginning of the Modern Age 142The Communications Bottleneck 148The Reformation and Literacy 152The Challenge to Monarchic Rule 158The Internal Margin of the Dutch State 164The United Provinces as Nation State 1726 Sonderweg or Railway? 181 The Emergence of a Superpower 183Liberalism and Nationalism 195The Railway 197Toward Unification 203The German Nation State 212Resources to Burn 2157 The Petrograd Paradox 221 The First Permanent Revolution 224The Instruments of Mass Control 234The Leninist Revolution 242The Role of the Communist Party 250The Paradox Explained 2628 The Atomization of America 269 The High-water Mark 272Pressure on the Border 278Toward an Atomistic 286The Rising Sun 294A Unique Occurrence 304Conclusion 311Three Classes of Events 315The Direction of Causality 319A Pattern of History 321The Pattern Explained 323Where Are We Going? 326Bibliography 329Suggested Reading 341General Index 345Name Index 354