Includes bibliographical references and index.

The world crisis, c. 1900-1930 : Europe and the 'Middle East' -- The world crisis, c. 1900-30 : Africa, Asia and beyond -- Authoritarianism and dictatorship worldwide, c. 1900-50 -- Democracies and their discontents, c. 1900-50 -- The depression : state intervention and popular resistance -- The Second World War and its consequences -- Peripheral conflicts and the end of old regimes, c. 1945-55 -- America's hegemony and colonialism's finale, mid-1950s to 1970s -- The 'tipping point' : world politics and the shock of the 'long 1980s' -- The expansion of human knowledge : the Twentieth century person and society -- The self and human society -- Arts, literature and entertainment : crisis and recovery -- Religion : contestation and revival -- A century of killing and a century of crime -- Internationalism and trans-nationalism in theory and practice -- The shadow of empire in the modern world -- The pressure of people -- Between two centuries : economic liberalisation and political fragmentation, c. 1991 to 2015.