Man and society Book

In the history of Western Europe since the Renaissance there has been a constant conflict between personal standards of morality and the action of statesmen to preserve or enlarge the state they govern. The author, a German historian working shortly after The Great War, looked at the history of theorizing about this conundrum from the time of Machiavelli up to his own. His motivation seems to have been that he saw states growing continually more powerful throughout the period, and continually more destructive wars leading to the catastrophe for Germany of the Great War and he feared if the process continued Europe would become a shambles. Could a brake be applied and if so how? He looked for a solution in philosophy and ethics and I don't think he found one. However it is a fascinating, exhaustive history of a philosophical conundrum and an excellent history of the growth of State power and nationalism from the city states of Italy to the Great Powers that fought from 1914 - 1918.