Strategy has existed as long as there has been organised conflict. In this new account, Jeremy Black explores the ever-changing relationship between purpose, force, implementation and effectiveness in military strategy and its dramatic impact on the development of the global power system. Taking a `total` view of strategy, Black looks at leading powers – notably the United States, China, Britain and Russia – in the wider context of their competition and their domestic and international strengths. Ranging from France`s "Ancien Regime" and Britain`s empire building to present day conflicts in the Middle East, Black devotes particular attention to the strategic practice and decisions of the Kangxi Emperor, Clausewitz, Napoleon and Hitler.