Grand Improvisation

A new understanding of the postwar power struggle between the fading British Empire and the rising American superpower—with insights for today: “Riveting.” — The Wall Street Journal An enduring myth of the twentieth century is that the United States rapidly became a superpower in the years after World War II, when the British Empire—the greatest in history—was too wounded to maintain a global presence. In fact, Derek Leebaert argues in Grand Improvisation , the idea that a traditionally insular