This is the first comprehensive German-language account of global developments from the preliminaries to the Second World War up to the present. Mindful of the central significance of global connections, the author succeeds in reflecting the political, economic and social movements of the last seventy years. He not only incorporates the findings of contemporary historical research inside and outside Germany, but also illuminates their possible consequences.

Gerhard Schulz was Professor of Modern History with particular reference to current affairs at the University of Tübingen, Germany.