I had to read this book before I redeem my promise to only read books with the phrase "...from 1500 to..." in the title and opt out of the IR scene altogether to pursue my real passion of fiction. Sheehan's text explains the victory of peace over war in Europe.

I argued in my thesis that K. J. Ståhlberg transcended (or at least believed in the possibility to transcend) war and narrow-minded power-politics-realism and found the end of history for a small liberal republic. Peace that enabled the creation of prosperity explains the success story of contemporary Finland. My account showed how the trick was done for, what was then, a peripheral small power playing against extremely unfavorable geopolitical odds.

James J. Sheehan, in his brilliant book, shows how the Great Powers did peace Europe-wide. I found some interesting similarities. Where I write, in the context of Finland's foreign policy, that the primacy of domestic policy goals over ambition in international affairs is the most potent source for success, Sheehan writes that: "During the long peace of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century we can find the historical roots of the civilian policies and institutions that would eventually dominate European public life. These policies and institutions were directed inward, toward domestic goals; they sought to encourage economic growth, promote commerce, and provide new kinds of services for their citizens." p. xviii

Second Opinion: Geoffrey Wheatcroft / The New York Times

(A nice review! Wheatcroft calls the book "a scintillating tour d’horizon — and de force" and shows sofisticatedly the differences in foreign policy thinking in contemporary US and Europe. One can agree with his final sentence describing Europe's attraction to peaceful politics: "To put it another way, soccer is not only England’s and Europe’s gift to all mankind. It really is a better game."