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.