“A splendid achievement.”
— Brian Urquhart (former UN Under-Secretary-General)

“ Neighbors and Strangers is a brilliant, fascinating analysis of war and statecraft from ancient times to the latest headline…done with superb scholarship.”
— Roger Hilsman (former Assistant Secretary of State and Professor of Government, emeritus, of Columbia University)

“…a massive, ambitious and reflective work, huge in concept and scope…Polk is equally adept in handling defense, trade, intelligence and diplomacy…”
— Thomas Hughes (President emeritus of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)

“A work of great learning, clear thought and logical presentation.”
— John Campbell (former director of studies of the Council on Foreign Relations)

“Should be required reading for every practicing diplomat.”
— James Spain (former U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Turkey and the UN)

“A highly original work…its scholarship is not only sound, it is rich…I know of no other work so comprehensive.”
— Speros Vryonis (Professor of History emeritus of New York University)

“Deserves to be committed to memory by our policy planners.”
— Hume Horan (former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea)

“A wise, learned, and graceful work that constitutes a superb introduction to the origin and logic of the principal areas of transaction among political collectives – defense, trade, espionage, and diplomacy.”
— Foreign Affairs

“William Polk has compressed a lifetime of scholarship, diplomacy, travel and inspired writing into this thoughtful, sometimes whimsical, but never boring account of how human beings have behaved toward each other from Neanderthal times to the nuclear age.
— International Herald Tribune

"a highly learned and very readable book…”
— Times Higher Education Supplement

“A lively and thought-provoking account strongly recommended.”
— Library Journal