ABSTRACT
This introduction provides an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book. The book investigates a number of aspects of historical patterns concentrating on the central question of how nations or empires rise, succeed, fail and then either assume another form in which they begin the cycle again or remain a diminished version of their former selves. This includes the investigation of historical patterns such as chaos and stability, or the relationship between power-centres and power-vacuums. In connection with the rise of empires and nation states, the importance of quantity and quality are highlighted. The book does not only offer a new approach to history and historical understanding of the past, it goes further than that. It shows how a small part of science can be used as a valuable tool to study history—but to also confirm that science can not encapsulate the totality of the historical reality.
