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The Return of the Great Powers
- Author
- Brendan Simms
- Narrator
- Mike Cooper
- Publisher
- John Murray Press
- Publish Date
- 4 June 2026
- Run Time
- 14 hours 13 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
THE TIMES
'Timely . . . thought-provoking'
FINANCIAL TIMES
'Cuts through the noise to give the reader geopolitical clarity'
TIM MARSHALL
'Shines powerful light on the state of contemporary geopolitics . . . Profound'
ANDREW ROBERTS
'Wide-ranging and provocative'
FIONA HILL
'Simms is one of the most knowledgeable and formidable analysts of how the Great Powers will shape the new order'
RANA MITTER
From an acclaimed historian, a sweeping study of the past, present, and future of the Great Powers, revealing the new rules of global leadership.
From the dawn of the modern era to the end of the Cold War, global history was defined by rivalries between great powers. In the West, this meant the struggle for supremacy in Europe and the Americas, while in the East, it encompassed those vying for control over the successor states to Genghis Khan's empire. Between 1989 and the year 2000, great power rivalry temporarily gave way to globalization, with liberal democracy on the march and national chauvinism seemingly in retreat. But events of the past decade have made one thing abundantly clear: the great powers are back.
In The Return of the Great Powers, renowned historian Brendan Simms offers a new history of the rise, fall, and return of the Great Powers in our time. He shows that over the past ten years or so, the major global actors have already resumed making decisions based on geopolitical rather than global economic considerations. Delivering a clear-eyed reckoning with today's most pressing geopolitical issues, from the Ukraine war to the future of American dominance, The Return of the Great Powers insists that we can only understand the future of the great powers by looking to the history that forged them.
Critics Review
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Exceedingly timely and very compelling
General David Petraeus, former director of the CIA
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Wide-ranging and provocative
Fiona Hill, author of THERE IS NOTHING FOR YOU HERE
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Very, very occasionally a history book is written that shines powerful light on the state of contemporary geopolitics, and makes sense of a process that has been hiding in plain sight. The Return of the Great Powers, with its profound perceptions about the present in the light of the past, is just such a work
Andrew Roberts, author of CHURCHILL
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A magisterial survey of the post-Cold War era, the rise and decline of the Liberal International Order, and the return of Great Power competition . . . Highly recommended - a "must read"
Laurie Bristow, former UK ambassador to Afghanistan and Russia
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Simms is one of the most knowledgeable and formidable analysts of how the Great Powers will shape the new order. Drawing on a breathtaking range of historical examples and brilliant geopolitical analysis, this book is a powerful guide to a fast-changing world
Rana Mitter, Harvard Kennedy School
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Timely . . . thought-provoking
Financial Times
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This bracing tour d'horizon of the once and future world order, although aimed at the informed layman, is well worth reading . . . Simms has done much to rescue the reputation of geopolitical writing
The Times
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Details
- Author
- Brendan Simms
- Narrator
- Mike Cooper
- Duration
- 14 hours 13 minutes
- Release Date
- 4 June 2026
- ISBN
- 9781399816984
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- John Murray Press
- Genre
- Politics and government, Political science and theory, General and world history
Synopsis
'This bracing tour d'horizon of the once and future world order, although aimed at the informed layman, is well worth reading . . . Simms has done much to rescue the reputation of geopolitical writing, often the preserve of the charlatan, the witless pundit and the video gamer. His newest work is no exception' THE TIMES'Timely . . . thought-provoking' FINANCIAL TIMES'Cuts through the noise to give the reader geopolitical clarity'TIM MARSHALL'Shines powerful light on the state of contemporary geopolitics . . . Profound'ANDREW ROBERTS'Wide-ranging and provocative'FIONA HILL'Simms is one of the most knowledgeable and formidable analysts of how the Great Powers will shape the new order'RANA MITTERFrom an acclaimed historian, a sweeping study of the past, present, and future of the Great Powers, revealing the new rules of global leadership.From the dawn of the modern era to the end of the Cold War, global history was defined by rivalries between great powers. In the West, this meant the struggle for supremacy in Europe and the Americas, while in the East, it encompassed those vying for control over the successor states to Genghis Khan's empire. Between 1989 and the year 2000, great power rivalry temporarily gave way to globalization, with liberal democracy on the march and national chauvinism seemingly in retreat. But events of the past decade have made one thing abundantly clear: the great powers are back.In The Return of the Great Powers, renowned historian Brendan Simms offers a new history of the rise, fall, and return of the Great Powers in our time. He shows that over the past ten years or so, the major global actors have already resumed making decisions based on geopolitical rather than global economic considerations. Delivering a clear-eyed reckoning with today's most pressing geopolitical issues, from the Ukraine war to the future of American dominance, The Return of the Great Powers insists that we can only understand the future of the great powers by looking to the history that forged them.
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