Global change has accelerated at an unprecedented pace in the last half-century, affecting every aspect of daily life, public and private, throughout the world. The trajectory of change points in different directions, with the world growing at once more intertwined and more fragmented. Commerce and migrations, television and the World Wide Web, suggest a story of growing interconnection. The proliferation of nationstates, the divisions rooted in religion, race, and material inequality, speak of separation and conflict.

David Reynolds's brilliant history captures both themes and grounds them vividly in the people and events of our last fifty years. At the heart of his narrative is the political story of world upheavals--the Cold War; the Chinese revolution; independence movements across the Third World; and crises such as Cuba, Vietnam, and the fall of the Soviet Union. These are the visible peaks of a continuing subterranean political change that Reynolds charts as well.

The history of the postwar world is also one of economic and population growth, the spread of cities, vast technological change, genetic manipulation, and the creation of a digital world. Reynolds integrates these developments smoothly into his narrative. His eye for character brings to life Kennedy and Khrushchev, Mao and Mobutu, Rachel Carson, Indira Gandhi, Elvis Presley, and other personalities of our age.

Carefully avoiding an encyclopedic approach, Reynolds writes with authority, vision, and style. He has produced a history of the last half-century that is comprehensive and satisfying.