This book is a thematic history of the world from the beginning of the era of revolutions until the start of World War I, which dissolved the system of states and empires of the time.

By correlating historical trends and events that have been examined separately in national and regional histories, it reveals the close interdependence of political, economic, and social developments worldwide long before the supposed beginning of "globalization" after 1945. It thus traces the "multiplicative effects" that critical events (crises, disturbances, revolutions, uprisings) had on a global scale, taking place not only in the emerging European and American 'core' of the industrial global economy, but also in Asia, Africa, and South America, in turn influencing this core.

Reexamining the major themes of the 19th century - the rise of the modern state, industrialization, liberalism, imperialism, the promotion of world religions - it highlights the increasing homogenization that occurs in major institutions such as churches, markets, royal courts, state mechanisms, and justice systems, as well as in "bodily practices," the ways in which people dress, speak, eat, and manage their relationships within the family and community.

- Wolfson History Prize
- Book Prize (World and International History) H-Soz-u-Kult Forum