Written by one of the top historians of his generation, a pioneer in the study of world history, this book provides an impressive range and depth of the world history in the fields of politics, economics, society, and culture during the long twentieth century.

Christopher Bayly identifies, among other critical phenomena and ideas, the forms of the state, capital, and communication as catalysts for change on a global scale. He questions whether war was indeed the main driving force of the history of the 20th century and explores the causes of the resurgence of local conflicts instead of a global war after 2000. 

And he dissects the narrative of inequality, which has shaped the developments of the past hundred years. Thus, he complements and completes the comprehensive perspective he initiated with his groundbreaking work The Birth of the Modern World, 1780-1914.