Review: Empires of Ideas: Creating the Modern University from Germany to America to China by William C. Kirby (Harvard UP, 2022)

Empires of Ideas (2022) by William Kirby explores the German, American, and Chinese higher education systems through historical analysis and personal narratives. The impetus for the volume is the ever-changing landscape of higher education driven by prestige and global competition. As the author shows, Germany was formerly the dominant global player, then passed by the US as the current reigning world power, and now buttressed by the promise of a rising China in this space. While the book provides insights into the national systems, Kirby highlights the histories of specific universities to take a deeper dive into the three higher education sectors. For Germany, he examines the University of Berlin (later Humboldt University) and the Free University of Berlin. Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Duke University provide three cases in the United States. Finally, Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, and the University of Hong Kong are featured in the China segment. The strength of the book lies in Kirby's ability to blend his own experiences from his long career with empirical historical analysis.