Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony, by Kori Schake

The book sounds very interesting, but if the book reviewer has provided an excellent summary, then the book's basic thesis is neither new or all that accurate if one analyzes hegemonic transitions since the rise of so-called great civilizations historically (i.e., over the millennia). For example, let's assume the reviewer's quote is accurate: "There is one exception, the replacement of British power by American, a transition that occurred from the early 19th century to the mid-20th, and which was uniquely peaceful." Uniquly peaceful for who? Certainly not for lots of humanity throughout the world during this long transition! For just American and Brits relative to each other? Yes, but when has one hegemonic power replaced another in which the cultures of the two were and are so similar? Only once to my knowledge. WASPian America are afterall direct descendants of the Brits (which also helps to explain why the U.K. could never become fully a part of the EU, ultimately contributing to Brexit). Also, if one goes deep in human history, some civilizations and hegemonic powers over certain geographic areas have declined of their own accord and without war, such as the Mayans and many others as Jared Diamond has recented pointed out in his trilogy, especially in Collapse. In conclusion, maybe there are too many new academic books being published that are not really new or offer something unique. Maybe students and academics should publish less given the lack of originality and spend more time reading and studying older books in much great depth. Reinventing the wheel for credentials sake is an unfortunate requirement of modern academia as one on my mentors, Bernard Brodie of UCLA and RAND and the father of nuclear deterrence theory, used to commonly say: "most new books are mediocre, only a small percentage are worth reading, and very few are worth reading a second time -- only the best and great works. Jerel Rosati University of South Carolina See my website at http://people.cas.sc.edu/rosati/