In a stunningly original look at the American Declaration of Independence, David Armitage reveals the document in a new light: through the eyes of the rest of the world. Not only did the Declaration announce the entry of the United States onto the world stage, it became the model for other countries to follow. Armitage examines the Declaration as a political, legal, and intellectual document, and is the first to treat it entirely within a broad international framework. He shows how the Declaration arose within a global moment in the late eighteenth century similar to our own. He uses over one hundred declarations of independence written since 1776 to show the influence and role the U.S. Declaration has played in creating a world of states out of a world of empires. He discusses why the framers' language of natural rights did not resonate in Britain, how the document was interpreted in the rest of the world, whether the Declaration established a new nation or a collection of states, and where and how the Declaration has had an overt influence on independence movements--from Haiti to Vietnam, and from Venezuela to Rhodesia. Included is the text of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and sample declarations from around the world. An eye-opening list of declarations of independence since 1776 is compiled here for the first time. This unique global perspective demonstrates the singular role of the United States document as a founding statement of our modern world.

大衛·阿米蒂奇美國哈佛大學曆史係教授、係主任，著名思想史、世界史專傢。生於英國，畢業於劍橋大學和普林斯頓大學，擁有碩士、博士學位，並榮獲多個學術研究奬項。他曾在世界多地講學，研究成果豐碩，主要著作有：《英帝國的思想起源》（The Ideological Origins of the British Empire，2000）、《獨立宣言一種全球史》（The Declaration of Independence :A Global History，2007）和《現代國際思想基礎》（Foundations of Modern International Thought，2013）：主編：《莎士比亞和早期現代政治思想》（Shakespeare and Early Modern Political Thought，2009）、《全球語境下的革命時代，約1760-1840年》（The Age of Revolutionsin Global Context，c1760-1840，2010）和《太平洋史：海洋、陸地與人》（Pacific Histories: Ocean，Land，People，2013）。