{"product_id":"stealing-horses-to-great-applause-the-origins-of-the-first-world-war-reconsidered-9781804295793","title":"Stealing Horses to Great Applause: The Origins of the First World War Reconsidered","description":"\u003cb\u003eStand-out theoretical and empirical explanation of the origins of the First World War by one of the great historians of international diplomacy\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eStealing Horses to Great Applause\u003c\/i\u003e presents arguably the finest considerations yet of the origins of the First World War. Breaking with accounts which focus on the actions of a single state or the final countdown to hostilities, Paul W. Schroeder describes the systemic crisis engulfing the Great Powers. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThey were more interested in colonial plunder overseas (stealing horses to great applause, in the old Spanish adage) than the traditional statecraft of European peace-making. Preserving the balance of power required preserving all the essential actors in it, including a tottering Austria-Hungary. This the British in particular failed to recognise. The Central Powers may have started the War but that does not mean they in any real sense caused it. In the end Schroeder recalls the verdict of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: All are punished. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eStealing Horses to Great Applause \u003c\/i\u003eincludes appraisals of Niall Ferguson and A. J. P. Taylor, and an extensive unpublished final paper rethinking the First World War as \"the last 18th-century war.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith an introduction by Perry Anderson.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Paul W. Schroeder\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Verso\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/18\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 384\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.95lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.30h x 5.70w x 1.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781804295793","brand":"Verso","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43398013845641,"sku":"9781804295793","price":39.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_d477a117-1104-422c-af81-fdb8cd739f24.jpg?v=1740473286","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/stealing-horses-to-great-applause-the-origins-of-the-first-world-war-reconsidered-9781804295793","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}