4th Edition
International History of the Twentieth Century and Beyond
Now in its fourth edition, this highly successful global history of the twentieth century is written by four prominent international historians for first-year undergraduate level and upward.
Using their thematic and regional expertise, the authors have produced an authoritative yet accessible and seamless account of the history of international relations in the last century, covering events in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas. They focus on the history of relations between states and on the broad ideological, economic, and cultural forces that have influenced the evolution of international politics over the last 120 years. The fourth edition is thoroughly updated to take account of the most recent research and global developments, including: new material on the impact of the Trump administration on international politics, the rise of China under the leadership of Xi Jinping, and the origins of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
The book is supported by a fully revised companion website including links to further resources and self-testing material, which can be found at www.routledgelearning.com/internationalhistory20c.
INTRODUCTION
1. GREAT POWER RIVALRY AND THE WORLD WAR, 1900–17
2. THE SEARCH FOR EUROPEAN STABILITY, 1917–29
3. JAPAN, CHINA AND THE ORIGINS OF THE PACIFIC WAR, 1900–41
4. THE EUROPEAN COLONIAL EMPIRES, 1900–45
5. ‘GOOD NEIGHBORS’? THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS, 1900–45
6. THE PATH TO EUROPEAN WAR, 1930–39
7. THE SECOND WORLD WAR, 1940–45
8. THE ‘FIRST’ COLD WAR IN EUROPE, 1945–61
9. ASIA IN TURMOIL: NATIONALISM, REVOLUTION AND THE RISE OF THE COLD WAR, 1945–53
10. FROM COLD WAR TO DÉTENTE, 1962–79
11. THE VIETNAM WARS, 1945–79
12. NEUTRALISM, DEVELOPMENT AND THE RISE OF THE THIRD WORLD, 1945–2023
13. THE ‘DEVELOPMENTAL STATES’: JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND TAIWAN, 1945–2023
14. THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND NORTH KOREA: IDEOLOGY AND NATIONALISM, 1949–2023
15. THE UNITED STATES AND LATIN AMERICA, 1945–2023
16. AFRICA: DECOLONIZATION AND INDEPENDENCE, 1945–2023
17. THE ARAB–ISRAELI CONFLICT, 1948–2023
18. THE RISE OF POLITICAL ISLAM, 1928–2023
19. THE END OF THE COLD WAR AND THE ‘NEW WORLD ORDER’, 1980–2000
20. THE RISE OF A NEW EUROPE: THE HISTORY OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION, 1945–2022
21. THE RISE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
22. US DECLINE IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD?
Biography
Antony Best is Professor in International History at the London School of Economics. He works on modern East Asian international history. His most recent book is British Engagement with Japan, 1854-1923: The Origins and Course of an Unlikely Alliance (2020).
Jussi M. Hanhimäki is Professor of International History and Politics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. He works on US foreign policy, the international history of the Cold War, and transatlantic relations. His latest book is Pax Transatlantica: America and Europe in the Post-Cold War Era (2021).
Joseph A. Maiolo is Professor of International History in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. He works on the history of international relations in the first half of the twentieth century. He is currently writing The Origins of the Second World War.
Kirsten E. Schulze is Associate Professor in International History at the London School of Economics. She works on the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Her latest book is Contesting Indonesia: Islamist, Separatist, and Communal Violence since 1945 (2024).
Praise of previous edition:
'Comprehensive and conceptually sophisticated, this history does more than recount the events of the past century, it explains them lucidly and engages the reader in crucial questions. There is no better guide to where we are and how we got there. I wish I had been assigned a book as good as this when I was a student.'
Robert Jervis, Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Politics, Columbia University, USA
'From the underlying causes of World War I to those behind the present decline of American influence, this third edition of a recognized classic provides a thoughtful, coherent, challenging, up-to-date and increasingly comprehensive account of the international history of the twentieth century and the opening decades of the present one. Caveat emptor: readers who dip in to learn something specific about one of the many conflicts and relationships it covers will inevitably be drawn into reading the entire chapter, if not the book.'
Ned Lebow, Professor of International Political Theory, King’s College London, UK
'This book is an impressive work of historical synthesis: it is comprehensive, sophisticated, and accessible. Students of History, International Relations, and Political Science should have it in their basic library, while non-academic readers will benefit from its overview of the revolutionary century that has passed, as a prelude to living in the revolutionary decades ahead. Highly recommended.'
Ken Booth FBA, President of the David Davies Memorial Institute of International Affairs, and Senior Research Associate, Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University, UK
‘Students love this textbook on the International history of the Twentieth Century, so do their teachers. This third edition is most welcome. We enjoy a main story vividly and clearly told in chapters that also live their own independent lives. The historiographical surveys are marvels of clarity and compactness, and the questions that are addressed to the literature provide excellent pathways to further reading and classroom discussions. For this third edition the authors have succeeded admirably in bringing the book into the second decade of the 21st century. I am particularly pleased with the chapter on human rights, a topic for far too long neglected by most historians of international relations.’
Helge Pharo, Professor of International History, University of Oslo, Norway
