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The Coming Storm
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  • Published: 5 March 2026
  • ISBN: 9781837313112
  • Imprint: Penguin Audio
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $32.00
Categories:

The Coming Storm

Power, Conflict and Warnings from History

Formats & editions
Hardback
9 June 2026
EBook
5 Mar 2026
Audiobook
5 Mar 2026
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A prescient, thoughtful and chilling examination of the current state of the world

If there are lessons from history, now is the time when we need to heed them, so that we do not end up in another Great Power war because of the fatal combinations of jingoism, fear, fatalism, and sheer stupidity that set off the first major war of the 20th century.

The great majority of people alive today have come of age in a world of remarkable stability, presided over by either one or two superpowers. This is not to say the world has been peaceful; but it has to an extent been predictable. As an increasing number of Great Powers now jostle for regional supremacy our world has become more fragile, unpredictable – and combustible.

To understand the threats that face us in this complex new terrain, we must look to the lessons of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century – a time when Great Powers clashed and sought regional dominance, when nationalism and populism were on the rise, and many felt that globalization had failed them: a time, in other words, that carries eerie parallels with our own.
  • Published: 5 March 2026
  • ISBN: 9781837313112
  • Imprint: Penguin Audio
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $32.00
Categories:

About the author

Odd Arne Westad

Odd Arne Westad is the Elihu Professor of History and Global Affairs at Yale University. An acclaimed scholar of modern international and global history, he is a fellow of the Briitsh Academy and Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. His previous books include The Cold War, which won the Bancroft Prize, Restless Empire, winner of the Asia Society Book Award, and with J. M. Roberts, The Penguin History of the World.
OAW

Also by Odd Arne Westad

The Penguin History of the World: 6th edition
The Cold War
The Penguin History Of The World
Restless Empire
See all

Praise for The Coming Storm

Westad brings so much erudition, intelligence, and insight to the table. This is a short book on a big subject that will make you think long after you put it down

Fareed Zakaria

A passionate and informed warning about the very real prospects today for Great Power war in light of the origins of World War I

Charles S. Maier

The Coming Storm seeks to make of the current geopolitical chaos by drawing parallels between now and the years before 1914 ... his comparisons are always thought-provoking and often accurate

Jonathan Boff, Spectator

Fluently written and wide-ranging ... Westad sees danger in the mix of volatile personalities, changing power relationships and emerging technologies

Bill Emmott, Financial Times

Westad guides us expertly through this current global disorder and its dangers

Ian Hughes, Irish Times

The assessment of the many ways in which the great powers of a hundred years ago went so wrong offers an antidote to the entrenchment and paralysis of imagination that pave the way for the next conflagration ... Westad performs an urgent and inestimable service

Elizabeth D. Samet, Foreign Affairs

All the terrible pieces seem to be falling into place ... The Coming Storm is an important book. The writing is clear and concise and the history is critical

Sean Durns, Providence