A chronological compilation of twentieth-century world events in one volume—from the acclaimed historian and biographer of Winston S. Churchill. The twentieth century has been one of the most unique in human history. It has seen the rise of some of humanity’s most important advances to date, as well as many of its most violent and terrifying wars. This is a condensed version of renowned historian Martin Gilbert’s masterful examination of the century’s history, offering the highlights of a three-volume work that covers more than three thousand pages. From the invention of aviation to the rise of the Internet, and from events and cataclysmic changes in Europe to those in Asia, Africa, and North America, Martin examines art, literature, war, religion, life and death, and celebration and renewal across the globe, and throughout this turbulent and astonishing century.

How has the world changed in the last century? This text looks back across 100 years of turbulence, Clive Ponting providing a reassessment of what the 20th century has meant to people throughout the world.

Covers major events and discoveries of the twentieth century in chronological sequence.

This book deals with American history since 1880—a period when the United States was transformed from a relatively small, remote, and isolated outpost to the planet’s richest, most powerful, and most influential nation. It is also, not coincidentally, a period that produced some of the world’s most unforgettable characters—and some of its best stories. History is not fixed, not two-dimensional, not black-and-white; it is always open to interpretation, always subject to speculation, always riddled with mystery. Only one thing is certain about history: All of it was essential to creating the world we live in today. In that regard, every story you will read in this book, and any other history book, is your story, too. What happens to you today has a great deal to do with what happened to other people a century ago; what you do tomorrow is influenced, whether you know it or not, by what other people did yesterday. In learning about history, we invariably learn a lot about ourselves, too.

Contains an overview of world history in the 20th century covering political and cultural events in Europe, Asia, and North America.