Rise of the Great Powers, 1648-1815

By Derek McKay
May 1983
Pearson Education / Longman
ISBN: 0582485541
392 pages
$59.50 Paper original

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The heyday of the European states system was in the century before the First World War. How the system of five great powers in conscious equilibrium came into being is the central theme of this book.

Contents
Lists of maps
Preface
1. The rise of France. 1648-88
2. The rise of Britain, 1688-1714
3. The emergence of Austria and Russia, 1660-1721
4. British diplomatic ascendancy and the entente 1714-1731
5. The recovery of France 1731-1739
6. A new pattern 1739-1763
7. Diplomacy and the European states system
8. Partition diplomacy in eastern Europe 1763-1795
9. Anglo-Bourbon relations in Europe and overseas 1763-1790
10. Europe and the French revolution 1789-1802
11. Napoleon and Europe 1802-1815
12. The great powers
Bibliography
Maps
Index

Review

'...this book should be a boon to students for some years to come.' Slavonic and East European Review

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