A Political History of the World

Every century or so, someone attempts to write a single-volume history of the entire world — and the attempt usually collapses under its own ambition. Jonathan Holslag’s A Political History of the World succeeds where others have failed, not by pretending to cover everything but by maintaining a rigorous focus on a single question: how have human societies organised political power, and what happens when those arrangements break down?

From ancient Mesopotamia and the warring states of China through the Roman and Mongol empires, the wars of religion, the age of European imperialism, and the conflicts of the twentieth century, Holslag traces the recurring patterns of political organisation, expansion, competition, and collapse that constitute the deep structure of human history. His prose is clear and authoritative; his analysis is consistently illuminating.

An ambitious, intelligent, and thoroughly readable achievement — the rare history book that gives you an actual framework for understanding the world, not just a sequence of events to memorise. Published by Penguin.