books.google.com.au - About national and international power in the "modern" or Post Renaissance period. Explains how the various powers have risen and fallen over the 5 centuries since the formation of the "new monarchies" in W. Europe....http://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_the_Great_Powers.html?id=poh3UOfAtjkC&utm_source=gb-gplus-shareThe Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
