The beginning of the twentieth century saw human civilization at its most enlightened, well-educated, globalized and wealthy. What turned it into a bloodbath?

Niall Ferguson re-tells the story of history's most savage century as a continual war that raged for 100 years. From the plains of Poland to the killing fields of Cambodia, he reveals how economic boom-and-bust, decaying empires and, above all, poisonous ideas of race led men to treat each other as aliens. It was an age of hatred that ended with the twilight, not the triumph, of the West. And, he shows, it could happen all over again.

'A heartbreaking, serious and thoughtful survey of human evil that is utterly fascinating and dramatic' Simon Sebag Montefiore, The New York Times

'Unputdownable, controversial, compelling' Independent on Sunday

'The grenade lobbed into the cosy tea party of received wisdom' Max Hastings

'A big, bold and brilliantly belligerent book' Sunday Telegraph

'History at its most controversial ... no one can afford to overlook it' Allan Mallinson

'Hums with energy, quotable insights and pithy summaries' Observer

'Gripping' Tristram Hunt

About the Author
Niall Ferguson is one of Britain's most renowned historians. He is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard, and a visiting professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing. He is the author of fifteen books, including The Pity of War, The House of Rothschild, Empire, Civilization and Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist, which won the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Prize. He is an award-making filmmaker, too, having won an international Emmy for his PBS series The Ascent of Money. His many other prizes include the Benjamin Franklin Prize for Public Service (2010), the Hayek Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2012) and the Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economic Journalism (2013). He was named Columnist of the Year at the 2018 British Press Awards.

Reviews
A heartbreaking, serious and thoughtful survey of human evil that is utterly fascinating and dramatic -- Simon Sebag Montefiore * The New York Times *
Unputdownable, controversial, compelling * Independent on Sunday *
The grenade lobbed into the cosy tea party of received wisdom -- Max Hastings
A big, bold and brilliantly belligerent book * Sunday Telegraph *
History at its most controversial ... no one can afford to overlook it -- Allan Mallinson
Hums with energy, quotable insights and pithy summaries * Observer *
Gripping -- Tristram Hunt



Book Information
ISBN 9780141013824
Author Niall Ferguson
Format Paperback
Page Count 816
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 589g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 35mm