[...] This introductory essay has four aims, corresponding to the four sections that follow. First, it introduces readers to the history of the concept of gran strategy and to the central themes of that literature. Second, it explores the abiding tensions in the literature on grand strategy - especially as manifest in the contributions to this Handbook. Third, it sets out and explains the logic of the Handbook, situating the volume's essays within that structure. Finally, it concludes with some speculative reflections on the reasons for grand strategy's recent renaissance.