# The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy

2 Hacker News commenters recommended The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People call it the classic book on this topic and a good treatise on why great powers rise and decline.

## Why people recommend it

- Seen as the classic on this topic (1 comments): "The classic book on this topic is" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48380049))
- Good treatise on great power decline (1 comments): "For a good treatise on this, read Paul Kennedy's Rise and Fall of the Great Powers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46287907))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dawn-of-everything.md): 23 recommend
- [Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cadillac-desert.md): 18 recommend
- [The Box by Marc Levinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/box.md): 16 recommend
- [Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sapiens.md): 13 recommend
- [Chip War by Chris Miller](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chip-war.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0517051001?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780517051009) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy", https://hackerapproved.com/p/rise-and-fall-of-the-great-powers/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).