"To make our understanding of history manageable, we try to retrieve from the huge clutter of the past only those events that seem to be particularly useful, interesting, or exciting" (Chapter One, pg. 1.)

"The problem is that we may learn from the past but we cannot live in it. History cannot be repeated, particularly when our version of it is heavily mythical" (Chapter One, pg. 5.)

"At the end of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson was a key exponent of international cooperation and the League of Nations, but the US Senate voted against League membership in 1920, hurting the credibility of the League" (Chapter Two, pg. 25.)

"The Japanese military, convinced that America was preparing for an offensive war on the home islands, called for a preemptive strike that would seize the resources Japan needed and perhaps force the United States to make an arrangement for dividing power in the...