Pierre Grosser is a research historian specialised in the history of international relations and issues of the contemporary world, which he teaches at Sciences-Po. He was Director of Studies at the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2001 and has received numerous prizes for his various books, including Traiter avec le diable? (Dealing With The Devil?), which won the Prix du Revue des deux mondes, and 1989, l'année où le monde a basculé (1989, The Year The World Changed) which won the 2009 Prix des Ambassadeurs.

Pierre Grosser presents here a totally unknown aspect of twentieth-century history: the absolutely crucial role played by Asia on the world stage since 1905.
Are we aware, for example, that Japan's stance against Russia in 1905 was decisive in the game of alliances, and thus for the outbreak of the First World War? Or that Manchuria, in the 1930s, predicted the camps of the Second World War? And is not it also in Asia that post-Cold War regrouping has been played out?
Largely based on unpublished archives as well as works by Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean historians, Pierre Grosser recalls that the great powers were Asian empires (including the United States!), shows that everything happening in Asia had consequences for Europe and, above all, restored the role of Asian countries to their full stature.
A book that profoundly updates our understanding of international relations and geopolitics in the 20th century.