Of all the centuries in recorded history, none has seen more change, none has ended more differently than it began, than the twentieth. In 1900, Queen Victoria still ruled over England, the Imperial Manchu dynasty over China, and the Romanov Tsars over Russia. The cinema was in its infancy, radio and television still to be discovered. The first cars were on the road, but air travel existed only in earthbound imaginations. And now, as Yeats said, all is "changed utterly." In this ambitious book, twenty-four of the most distinguished scholars in the world survey the momentous events and the significant themes of the twentieth century in compact, scholarly essays. The contributors tackle political issues region by region as well as non-political topics in subjects such as physics, modernism in art, international economics, and the impact of new technologies on culture. The authors trace the continuities which have persisted over the past hundred years and analyze the changes which have marked the century's progress. Early chapters take a global overview of the century as a whole, from a variety of perspectives--demographic, scientific, economic, and cultural. Further chapters chart the century's course, continent by continent and region by region, all written by acknowledged experts. Beautifully illustrated with both color and black and white plates, and with a detailed chronology, suggestions for further reading, and a full index, The Oxford History of the Twentieth Century is an invaluable repository of information and insight about the endlessly fascinating century in which we live.

Michael Howard is former Regius Professor of Modern History, University of Oxford. He lives in England. Wm Roger Louis is the Kerr Professor of English History and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin.