Turchin argues that the key to the formation of an empire is a society's capacity for collective action. He demonstrates that high levels of cooperation are found where people have to band together to fight off a common enemy, and that this kind of cooperation led to the formation of the Roman and Russian empires, and the United States. But as empires grow, the right get richer and the poor get poorer, conflict replaces cooperation, and dissolution inevitably follows. Eloquently argued, War and Peace and War is a rich pageant of crucial historical stories that offers a bold new perspective on the course of world history.
