In an article for Time and Tide in November 1942, Taylor wrote that "though innumerable books have been written on isolated episodes, the story of the Struggle for the Mastery of Europe has never been attempted".

As Taylor wrote: In the state of nature which Hobbes imagined, violence was the only law, and life was 'nasty, brutish and short'.

Asa Briggs wrote a favourable review that stated one of the most interesting characteristics of the book was its refusal to take at face value German interpretations of history or to rely too much on Die Grosse Politik.

He added that "sometimes we need to rest and think three times about his brilliant epigrams; sometimes we pine for a closer study of the economic and social background of diplomacy....

[9] W. E. Mosse, in the English Historical Review lamented the mixing of opinion and fact and said "its general tone is iconoclastic rather than authoritative.... All too often, real flashes of insight are marred by Mr. Taylor's straining after effect; time and again commonsense and accuracy are sacrificed on the altar of the neat epigram, the clever paradox or simply the memorable phrase".

[10] Similarly, Henry L. Roberts, in Foreign Affairs, complained that the book is "too inclined to reverse all previous interpretations".