Books by Hendrik Spruyt

"Spruyt has written an outstanding text that leaves students informed and motivated, while at the same time providing splendidly balanced coverage of multiple issue areas and approaches." - Colin Elman, Maxwell School, Syracuse University

Examining the competing institutions that arose during the decline of feudalism (among them urban leagues, independent communes, city states, and sovereign monarchies), this book disposes of the familiar claim that the superior size and war-making ability of the sovereign nation-state made it the natural successor to the feudal system.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, imperial powers controlled most of the globe. Within a few decades after World War II, many of the great empires had dissolved, and more recently, multinational polities have similarly disbanded. This process of...