Kathleen Thelen explains the historical origins of important cross-national differences in four countries (Germany, Britain, the United States and Japan), and also provides a theory of institutional change over time. The latter is considered a frontier issue in institutionalist analysis, of which there are several varieties emerging from economics, political science, and sociology. Thelen's study contributes to the literature on the political economy of the developed democracies that focuses on different institutional arrangements defining distinctive models of capitalism.

This book addresses one of the least understood issues in modern international history: how, between 1930 and 1945, Britain lost its global preeminence to the United States. The crucial years are 1930 to 1940, for which until now no comprehensive examination of Anglo-American relations exists. Transition of Power analyzes these relations in the pivotal decade, with an epilogue that deals with the Second World War after 1941. Britain and the United States, and their intertwined fates, were fundamental to the course of international history in these years.

History clings tight but it also kicks loose,' writes Simon Schama at the outset of this, the first book in his three-volume journey into Britain's past. 'Disruption as much as persistence is its proper subject. So although the great theme of British history seen from the twentieth century is endurance, its counter-point, seen from the twenty-first, must be alteration.'

In 1914, a train pulled into a provincial British railway station. The porter, a curious chap, asked the regiment of soldiers where they were from. "Ross-shire," one called down, but the porter heard "Russia." And so began a rumor that led to Germany losing World War I. Often the history we learn at school is only half the story. We hear of heroic deeds and visionary leaders, but we never hear about the people who turned up late for court and thereby changed the law, or who stood in the wrong queue at university and accidentally won a Nobel Prize. The Great Cat Massacre: A History of Britain in 100 Mistakes demonstrates that the nation is as much a product of error as design.

Volume III covers the long watershed of the nineteenth century, from the American independence of the 1780s to the eve of world war in 1914. This period saw Britain's greatest expansion as an empire-builder and a dominant world power. We begin with several thematic chapters-some are on Britain while others consider the empire's periphery-exploring the key dynamics of British expansion that made imperial influence possible and imperial rule prevalent. The volume also studies the economic, cultural, and institutional frameworks that shaped Britain's overseas empire.