The Penguin History of the Twentieth Century: The History of the World, 1901 to the Present (Allen Lane History S) - Softcover

Roberts, J. M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140276319 ISBN 13: 9780140276312

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2004

Synopsis

Offering a dazzling overview of a turbulent century, The Penguin History of the Twentieth Century explores the dramatic events and underlying trends that made the twentieth century the most transformative in human history. Despite two devastating World Wars and the traumatic rise and fall of communism, wealth has increased significantly alongside a four-fold leap in population, women's lives have been transformed, America has assumed undisputed political and cultural leadership, and China is now clearly awaiting its moment, J. M. Robert's masterly overview, now updated to the present day, brings all of this and more into focus.

About this title

Review:

J.M. Roberts's monumental Penguin History of the World became a publishing phenomenon and sold in the hundreds of thousands. Now he has produced an equally brilliant new book, focusing solely on our own troubled and dramatic century, and it has all the breathtaking sweep and confident judgment of his previous work. Most important, Roberts takes a truly international view of things. The 20th century, he argues, is marked as much as anything by the decline of Europe as the world's sole arbiter and the emergence of today's cosmopolitan, global civilization, born of decolonization, the resurgence of Islam, and the vibrant, self-assured new nations of Asia and Latin America. He also examines the other two major trends of our time: the social and economic empowerment of women and the extraordinary quadrupling of the world's population, most of it in Third World countries. A challenging and exacting read, Twentieth Century is destined to be a classic. --Christopher Hart, Amazon.co.uk

About the Author:

J. M. Roberts (1928–2003) was an eminent British historian and television presenter. He was the vice chancellor of the University of Southampton (1979–1985) and the warden of Merton College, Oxford (1985–1994). He wrote and presented The Triumph of the West, a 13-part series for the BBC (1985). He is the author of numerous books, including The Penguin History of the World, The Triumph of the West, and Twentieth Century.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0140276319
• ISBN 13: 9780140276312
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 928