The Birth of the Modern World, 1780-1914: Global Connections and Comparisons (Blackwell History of the World Series)

A thematic history of the world from 1780, the pivotal year of the revolutionary age, to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It brings together historical data and arguments from different societies in order to show how interconnected the world was, even before the onset of modern globalization. The author demonstrates how events in Asia, Africa and South America, from the decline of the 18th-century Islamic empires to the anti-European Boxer rebellion of 1900 in China, had a direct impact on European and American history. Conversely, he sketches the ripple effects of crises such as the European revolutions and the American Civil War. He also considers the great themes of the 19th-century world: the rise of the modern state, industrialisation, liberalism, and the progress of world religions. The book both challenges and complements the regional and national approaches which have traditionally dominated history teaching and writing. 
 
About the author
C.A. Bayly is Reader in Modern Indian History, and a Fellow of St Catherine's College, University of Cambridge, UK.