Arms control diplomacy as a central factor in superpower relations is not a new phenomenon. In this book, Christopher Hall traces the rise and fall of a previous arms limitation effort, the naval treaties of the interwar years, which successfully controlled competition in the strategic weapons of that era - the battleships and other vessels of the British, American and other 'great power' navies. He shows the problems and their solutions - many of relevance today - which made the treaties possible, and their major role in the peaceful transfer of leadership of the west from the British Empire to the United States.

Foreword - Sea Power in the 1920s - Frustration at Geneva - Rapprochement - The London Naval Conference 1930 - Failure at Geneva - The End in the Pacific - The End in Europe - The Washington System in Retrospect - Appendix: Extracts from London Naval Treaty, 1930 and London Naval Treaty, 1936 - Bibliography - Index