One world divisible : a global history since 1945

The second half of the 20th century was dominated by the unfolding drama of the Cold War, from the Berlin blockade to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

A blooming economy has had had its sinister shadow in the apparently insoluble crises that have beset much of the Third World.

Above all, peace in the West has been offset by wars of unbelievable murderousness elsewhere.

Reynolds's account is both an overview of the trends underlying this spectacular and awful variety, and an insight into the lives led in its midst.