In 1815, the exhausted victors of the conflicts that had engulfed Europe for a generation agreed on a new system to maintain peace. Instead of independent states changing sides, making deals, and betraying one another, a new "European Agreement" would ensure that the barbarism and chaos of the Napoleonic Wars would never happen again.

The impressive new book by Mark Mazower reconstructs two centuries of international governance - the struggle to disseminate values and build institutions that would bring order to a chaotic and dangerous system of states. It shows how what began as a European matter became the framework of today's world, as advocates of free trade, communists, and nationalists put forth their own radical visions for international harmony.

The utopian fictions of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells mingled with the plans of Esperanto, dreams of a universal science of information, and the legal codes of a court for all humanity. British and American politicians supported the creation of a single global security organization. Every time the world was devastated by a new outbreak of violent cynicism and shifting alliances, the demand for something that could bend short-term national interests in favor of a broader common good arose.

However, today the faith in old ideals and our political ability to shape the future is waning. The overwhelming power of global financial capital has made even the possibility of world governance unrecognizable, and it is being questioned more than ever.

In an era when the UN is being devalued, American power is receding, and unstable power coalitions or short-sighted market forces once again threaten large parts of the world, this book could not be more timely.

"A unique work: a great historian reconstructs how individuals and nations sought to promote national interests in an increasingly complex international scene. A dramatic, innovative account of ideas and institutions clashing with harsh realities." (Fritz Stern)

"Mazower proves to be the foremost historian of his generation . . . He offers the most convincing explanation yet put forth for the excessive, even hysterical, expectations of the 1990s and the subsequent collapse of optimism after 2000, which is now translating into the fear gripping large parts of the Western world." (Misha Glenny)

"Governing Europe, and then the entire world . . . The idea has found its perfect chronicler in Mark Mazower, whose approaches exude cosmopolitan awareness, humanity, erudition, and the necessary skepticism. Moreover, his history is written in clear, elegant prose." (Ian Buruma)

"An important contribution to historical research - the chapters on the impressive whirl of politics, ideas, and forms of organization in the 19th century are particularly original and valuable . . . Mazower deserves our gratitude for this clear account he provides." (Paul Kennedy, Financial Times)