First published in 1998

This book is divided into two parts. The first part is concerned with expounding a broad framework and with illustrating it from a wide variety of historical examples.

The second part narrows the focus to modern Britain, largely in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and has particular reference to the years covered by the world wars, 1914–1945.

The aim of the second part is to exemplify the framework in detail within the specific context of British history. However, it would have been quite as feasible to select American history for this purpose.