| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 112.3

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 112.3 | The History Cooperative

Harold James. The Roman Predicament: How the Rules of International Order Create the Politics of Empire. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. 2006. Pp. vii, 166. $24.95.
There have been rather too many books recently seeking lessons and analogies from imperial history in order to comprehend the contemporary global order and assess its viability. Since I am one of the tribe of authors, however, I can hardly complain. This book is in any case far better than most because Harold James brings to it a rare combination of insight into both the history of global finance and trade and the history of modern Europe. His thesis is that it is far too early to speak of the victory of liberal globalization: history suggests that globalization generates powerful countercurrents, which usually triumphed in the past and are surging today.	1
The book is confined to the Roman Empire and to the modern European transoceanic empires. This is the norm for such works on empire and the present world order and even that is already a very broad canvas. Nevertheless, just looking at the Western tradition of empire leaves much out, not least as regards the very interesting questions James poses.	. . .

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