During the years before the First World War, the realignment of world powers resulted in agreements concluded in 1904 and 1907 between Britain, France, Russia and Japan. John Albert White terms this a Quadruple Entente, a more accurate and complete description than the more commonly used Triple Entente, which omits Japan. His more inclusive view leaves undisturbed the conception of Europe as the centre of political gravity, but at the same time calls proper attention to the enhanced role which Japan had won through her victories in the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars and by her careful management of her entry into the larger family of nations. This wider perspective on the crucial pre-war years shows how, in its political context as well as its geographical terrain and its general impact, the First World War was a world war in every sense.

Following his earlier account of The Anglo-Japanese Alliance from 1894 t0 1907, Dr Nish's book studies the renewal of the alliance in 1911 and the working relationship between the two countries until the alliance ended in 1923. First published in 1972, this title is part of the Bloomsbury Academic Collections series.