This book is promoted by the publishers as the most complete study to date of how land based military power influenced international affairs during the series of diplomatic crises that led up to the First World War.
Instead of emphasising the naval arms race, which has already been extensively studied, the author draws upon documentary research in military and state archives in Germany, France, Austria, the U.K. and Italy to show the previously unexplored effects of the changes in the strengths of the European armies during this period.