Grenville J.A.S. A History of the World: From the 20th to the 21st Century

Routledge, 2005. — 1008 p. — ISBN10: 0415289556 ISBN13: 9780415289559.This second edition has been thoroughly updated and includes discussions on 9/11 and the second Gulf War, and takes into account the latest historical research.A comprehensive survey of the key events and personalities of this period throughout the world, it includes discussion on topics such as:
the rivalry between European nations from 1900–1914
the Depression and the rise of Fascism during the 1920s and 1930s
the global impact of the Cold War
decolonization and its effects
the continuing conflict in the Middle East.A History of the World provides a fascinating and authoritative account of the world since 1900, for general readers and students of world history alike.Prologue: the world from the 20th to the 21st century
Social Change and National Rivalry in Europe, 1900–14
Hereditary foes and uncertain allies
The British Empire: premonition of decline
The last decades of the multinational Russian and Habsburg Empires
Over the brink: the five-week crisis, 28 June–1 August 1914
Beyond Europe: the shifting balance of global power
The emergence of the US as a world power
China in disintegration, 1900–29
The emergence of Japan, 1900–29
The Great War, Revolution and the Search for Stability
The Great War I: war without decision, 1914–16
War and revolution in the East, 1917
The Great War II: the end of war in the West, 1917–18
Peacemaking in an unstable world, 1918–23
Democracy on trial: Weimar Germany
Britain, France and the Us from war to peace
Italy and the rise of fascism
The Continuing World Crisis, 1929–39
The Depression, 1929–39
Soviet Russia: ‘communism in transition’
The failure of parliamentary democracy in Germany and the rise of Hitler, 1920–34
The mounting conflict in eastern Asia, 1928–37
The crumbling peace, 1933–6
The Spanish Civil War and Europe, 1936–9
The outbreak of war in Europe, 1937–9
The Second World War
Germany’s wars of conquest in Europe, 1939–41
The China War and the origins of the Pacific War, 1937–41
The ordeal of the Second World War
The victory of the Allies, 1941–5
Post-war Europe, 1945–7
Zero hour: the Allies and the Germans
The Soviet Union: the price of victory and the expanding empire
Britain and the world: a legacy too heavy to bear
France: a veil over the past
Italy: the enemy forgiven
The United States and the Beginning of the Cold War, 1945–8
The United States: a reluctant world power crisis in Europe – Prague and Berlin
The Transformation of Asia, 1945–55
The struggle for independence: the Philippines, Malaya, Indonesia and Indo-China
India: from the Raj to independence, 1947
China: the end of civil war and the victory of the communists
Crisis in Asia – war in Korea
The Ending of European Dominance in the Middle East, 1919–80
A profile of the Middle East
The Middle East between two world wars, 1919–45
Britain, Israel and the Arabs, 1945–9
Crisis in the Middle East – Suez
The struggle for predominance in the Middle East
The Cold War: superpower confrontation, 1948–64
The rise of Khrushchev: the Soviet Union and the West
Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union: the Polish challenge and the Hungarian Rising
The fall of Khrushchev: the Soviet Union and the wider world
The Eisenhower years: caution at home and containment abroad
The Recovery of Western Europe in the 1950s and 1960s
West Germany: economic growth and political stability
The French Fourth Republic: economic growth and political instability
The War of Algerian Independence: the Fifth Republic and the return of de Gaulle
Britain: better times and retreat from empire
The tribulations and successes of Italian democracy
Who Will Liberate the Third World? 1954–68
America’s mission in the world: the Eisenhower and Kennedy years, 1954–63
On the brink of a nuclear holocaust: the Cuban missile crisis, October 1962
The limits of power: the Us during the 1960s
Two Faces of Asia: After 1949
Turmoil, war and bloodshed in south-east Asia
The Vietnam War and after
Continuous revolution: Mao’s China
The last years of Mao and his heirs: the revolution changes course
Freedom and conflict in the Indian subcontinent: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
The prosperous Pacific Rim I: Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea
The prosperous Pacific Rim II: Australia and New Zealand 664
Latin America after 1945: Problems Unresolved
The world of Latin America
Central America in revolution: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama and Mexico
Africa after 1945: Conflict and the threat of famine
The end of white rule in West Africa
Freedom and conflict in Central and East Africa
War and famine in the Horn of Africa 748 66 Southern Africa: from white supremacy to democracy
The United States and the Soviet bloc after 1963: The Great Transformation
The Soviet Union and the wider world, the Brezhnev years: crushing the Prague Spring and the failure of reform
The United States: from great aspirations to disillusion
The Soviet Union, crisis and reform: Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin
The United States, global power: Reagan, Bush and Clinton
Western Europe Gathers Strength: After 1968
The German Federal Republic: reaching maturity
Contemporary Italy: progress despite politics
How to make Britain more prosperous: Conservative and Labour remedies
The revival of France
The European Community
Global Change: from the 20th to 21st Century
The Iron Curtain disintegrates: the death of communism in Eastern Europe
Continuing turmoil and war in the Middle East
The wars of Yugoslavia: a requiem
The ‘war on terror’
Into the new millennium: the twenty-first century
Suggestions for further reading