I bought my first copy of this book a number of years ago. Since that time I've bought several more copies and am getting ready to buy another, because I've given the others to friends. Many of my friends in the States fear, on a very basic level, whether the fate that befell great countries of the past can come to the U.S. Mr. Kohl gives the answer to that query, although at the time he penned his study he believed such a dire fate would not befall the U.S. because its political structure (i.e., a federal republic) disperses political power in such a way as to inhibit the "bigness" that brings doom to any organization that becomes too large. It appears, though, that those who WANT the U.S. to abandon the federal/state structure and to become everything to everybody seem to absolutely hate this book. But Kohl was right. Read this the book and understand where the U.S. is headed.