The sequel and companion volume to C.A. Bayly's ground-breaking The Birth of the Modern World, 1780-1914, this wide-ranging and sophisticated study explores global history since the First World War, offering a coherent, comparative overview of developments in politics, economics, and society at large. * Written by one of the leading historians of his generation, an early intellectual leader in the study of World History * Weaves a clear narrative history that explores the themes of politics, economics, social, cultural, and intellectual life throughout the long twentieth century * Identifies the themes of state, capital, and communication as key drivers of change on a global scale in the last century, and explores the impact of those ideas * Interrogates whether warfare was really the pre-eminent driving force of twentieth-century history, and what other ideas shaped the course of history in this period * Explores the causes behind the resurgence of local conflict, rather than global-scale conflict, in the years since the turn of the millennium * Delves into the narrative of inequality, a story that has shaped and been shaped by the events of the last hundred years