International History: A Cultural Approach offers an innovative history of modern international relations that stresses cultural themes. In place of the usual focus on great-power rivalries, diplomatic negotiations, military conflict, and other phenomena in which sovereign nations are the key players, this book focuses on intercultural relations as individuals, races, religions, and non-state actors interact across national boundaries, to provide a fresh perspective on modern international history.

Among the themes covered are:
- Nationalism and cosmopolitanism
- Migration
- Cross-cultural encounters
- Consumerism and youth cultures
- Environmental transformations
- Economic and technological globalization

Akira Iriye and Petra Goedde's approach offers a deeper understanding of international history, focusing on people and their cultures rather than just state level interactions.

A brilliantly conceived book that reshapes the field of international history. Incisively illuminating a breathtaking array of international developments across the world over two centuries, this tour-de-force decisively demonstrates that culture is not an adjunct to international relations but is always constituent of it. * Barbara Keys, Author of Reclaiming American Virtue: The Human Rights Revolution of the 1970s *

This is an excellent overview of the cultural dimensions of international history. Exploring the emergence of transnationalism as a key feature of the modern world, Goedde and Iriye demonstrate that understanding culture is vital if we are to explain how that world came to be.

Akira Iriye is Charles Warren Professor of History (Emeritus), Harvard University, USA.

Petra Goedde is Professor of History at Temple University, USA.