The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy was first published in 1987. Kennedy explores economics as well as politics of the great powers in the period 1500-1980. The thorough analysis of the reasons of their decline is provided. In addition, Kennedy includes forecasts on the positions of China, the Soviet Union, the European Economic Community, Japan, and the United States. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers is an excellent source of economic and historical information on all powerful countries. Kennedy divides the book into five sections: strategy and economics in pre-industrial world, strategy and economics in the industrial era, powers in 1885-1918, powers in 1919-1942, and strategy and economics today and tomorrow. The book starts with the overview of the rise of the Western World with the special emphasis on the Habsburg Bid for Mastery and importance of finance, geography, and winning of wars. Further, Kennedy discusses the industrialization and the way it shifted the global balances. The detailed analysis of Bipolar World and the Crisis of the Middle Powers is included. The final section discusses the stability and change in bipolar world and the reasonable prediction for the situation in the 21 st century. The key point made by Kennedy is that the strength of the powerful countries can be measured only in comparison to other powers. He adds that the success of the great powers depends on the availability of resources, economic stability, as well as military might. The specific discussion on Ming and the Muslim World is a contribution to the analysis of western powers, their rise and decline. All points and arguments made by Kennedy are supported with references to numerous historical documents and primary information. The chronological organization of the book enhances understanding of the key events and correlations. Kennedy effectively uses a number of measures to assess the real and the potential strengths of nations discussed in the book. The metric of power is analyzed on the point in time. Kennedy emphasizes the importance of the manpower revolution and analyzes its role in changing the way Europeans fought wars. Chapter 2, in particular, covers the argument that the Habsburgs failed to achieve the same results as other powers. Thus, success and failure are measured by insignificant differences. The key to success, in the words of Kennedy, is ability to maintain balance between the military power and the material base. The overview of political and economic developments in Prussia, Britain, Russia, and France (countries that could finance their own wars) is compared to the countries that sought financial assistance to maintain military force. All of the arguments are summarized in tables and supported with figures. In particular, Kennedy provides specific information on the wartime expenditures and revenues. In the case of Britain, its financial strength played the crucial role in victory over France. Kennedy analyzes the fusion of financial strength with the industrial developments and concludes Chapter 2 with the assumption that industrialization fostered the economic and political strengthening. The core assessment of statistics depends upon Barioch’s calculations of industrialization. The share of world manufacturing output is used to mark the peaks of power for major countries; however, there is no justificatio