ABSTRACT
Paul Kennedy’s The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers falls into the category of international history. The eighteenth-century German historian Friedrich Schiller articulated the discipline’s statement of purpose in 1789. The international historian must “select from the stream of events those that exercise an essential, unmistakable, and easily comprehensible influence on the present shape of the world and the situation of the contemporary generation.” The practice of diplomacy became increasingly “professionalized” in Europe in the 1800s. At the same time, history became increasingly focused on explaining foreign policies and grand power politics. Leopold von Ranke’s approach persisted until the middle of the twentieth century, when scholars began shift their focus. Instead of narrating history through the dramatic decisions and relationships of great men, they examined the underlying forces and the actions of common men. Kennedy’s academic mentor at Oxford was John Gallagher, a historian whose academic fame stemmed from a 1961 book he coauthored exploring British imperialism in Africa.
