This book covers the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, from the Great War to the current day, in an attempt to supply a global perspective on history that adheres to the facts and yet accommodates the variety of interpretations that have been offered to explain them. The book chronicles the "thirty-years war" separating the two world wars, the spread of the principle of nationalism, the awakening of colonized peoples, the struggles within mass regimes, the confrontation between democratic and totalitarian systems, the divided world during the Cold War with its relentless competition between East and West, accelerated economic growth, decolonization, and the triumph of the American empire. The author also deals with more recent history, featuring the rise of neoliberal thought, the ascent of finance, the crisis of welfare, increasing social inequality; new global supremacies and new global equilibriums threaten to severely curtail the West's influence.

Raffaele Romanelli teaches Contemporary History at La Sapienza University in Rome.