The third edition of this hugely successful international history of the twentieth century is thoroughly updated throughout to take account of the most recent research and global developments, and includes a new chapter on the history of human rights. Supported by an overhauled, expanded and freely available website this is the essential student textbook for studying the history of the world in the twentieth century and beyond.

Antony Best is Senior Lecturer in International History at the London School of Economics.

Jussi M. Hanhimaki is Professor of International History and Politics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.

Joseph A. Maiolo is Professor of International History at the Department of War Studies, King's College London and Visiting Research Professor at the Norwegian Defence Intelligence School, Oslo.

Kirsten E. Schulze is Senior Lecturer in International History at the London School of Economics.

List of illustrations. Notes on authors. Acknowledgements. Note on the text. List of abbreviations. Visual tour. INTRODUCTION. The third edition. The second edition. Introduction to the twentieth century. 1. GREAT POWER RIVALRY AND THE WORLD WAR, 1900-1917. Introduction. The Great Powers, power politics and the states system. The long-term causes of the First World War. From one crisis to the next, 1905-13. 1914: decisions for war. The triple stalemate. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 2. THE SEARCH FOR EUROPEAN STABILITY, 1917-29. Introduction. The 'new diplomacy'. The armistice. The Paris peace settlement. The Paris peace settlement in Central and Eastern Europe. The implementation of the peace. The Locarno era. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 3. JAPAN, CHINA AND THE ORIGINS OF THE PACIFIC WAR, 1900-41. Introduction. The First World War in East Asia. The Washington Conference. Chinese nationalism and the Northern Expedition. The Manchurian Crisis. Japan's 'Monroe Doctrine' for East Asia. The Sino-Japanese War. Towards the Pacific War. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 4. THE EUROPEAN COLONIAL EMPIRES, 1900-45. Introduction. Empires and power. Ireland and the British Dominions. Empire and nationalism in the Middle East. India in crisis. Rationalization and resistance in South-East Asia. The colonial empires in Africa. The Second World War and empire. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 5. THE ORIGINS OF THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT, 1900-48. Introduction. The origins and development of Zionism. Palestinian nationalism. The twice-promised land. The mandate and British policy. Palestine and the Second World War. Partition and the end of the mandate. Arab and Zionist institution-building. The 1948 war. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 6. 'GOOD NEIGHBORS'? THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS, 1900-45. Introduction. The Monroe Doctrine and the imperial thrust. The Spanish-American War. Theodore Roosevelt and the American empire. Woodrow Wilson, the First World War and the Americas. Wilsonian visions defeated. From boom to bust. From gunboat diplomacy to the 'Good Neighbor' policy. Pan-Americanism and the approach of war. The Second World War and the Monroe Doctrine. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 7. THE PATH TO EUROPEAN WAR, 1930-39. Introduction. The dual crisis. The collapse of the Weimar Republic. Revolution and expansion. Diplomacy and deterrence. Isolation and co-existence. From Munich to European war. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 8. THE SECOND WORLD WAR, 1940-45. Introduction. From European war to World War. The Axis at war. The Grand Alliance at war. The collapse of the Grand Alliance. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 9. THE 'FIRST' COLD WAR IN EUROPE, 1945-61. Introduction. The German question. From takeovers to conformity: the USSR and Eastern Europe. The United States, containment and Western Europe. On every front. Stability and revolts. A wasting asset? Nuclear weapons. Culture and propaganda. The Berlin Wall. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 10. ASIA IN TURMOIL: NATIONALISM, REVOLUTION AND THE RISE OF THE COLD WAR, 1945-53. Introduction. The end of the Raj. Nationalism and independence in South-East Asia. The Chinese Civil War. China, Japan and the Cold War in Asia. The Korean War. Asia and the consequences of the Korean War. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 11. FROM COLD WAR TO DÉTENTE, 1962-79. Introduction. The Cuban Missile Crisis. Towards the world of MAD. France, Germany and the origins of European détente. Trouble in the Soviet bloc. Triangular diplomacy and the 'two détentes'. Détente in trouble: Watergate, Angola and the Horn of Africa. The death of détente: SALT II and Afghanistan. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 12. THE VIETNAM WARS, 1945-79. Introduction. The origins of the conflict and the first Indochina War. Divided Vietnam and American nation-building. The Americanization of the Vietnam War. 'Peace' and unification. Indochina in turmoil after 1975. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 13. NEUTRALISM, DEVELOPMENT AND THE RISE OF THE THIRD WORLD, 1945-2014. Introduction. Neutrality in Cold War Europe. India and the path to Bandung. The birth of the Non-Aligned Movement. Development and the Group of 77. The fragmentation of the Third World. The environment, sustainable development and climate change. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 14. THE 'DEVELOPMENTAL STATES': JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND TAIWAN, 1945-2014. Introduction. The American occupation of Japan. The '1955 system' and the revision of the Security Treaty. High-speed growth and its discontents. Japan as an economic superpower. Post-'bubble' Japan. South Korea and Taiwan. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 15. THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND NORTH KOREA: IDEOLOGY AND NATIONALISM, 1949-2014. Introduction. The rise and decline of the Sino-Soviet alliance. Revolutionary China and the Third World. The opening to America and the death of Mao. Deng and the 'Four Modernizations'. Tiananmen and after: the rise to global prominence. North Korea: the last Stalinist state. Conclusion. Recommended reading. 16. THE UNITED STATES AND L…