Marked by two world wars, the Holocaust, and a host of violent conflicts, the twentieth century has been the most explosive and destructive in human history. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, it is vital that we understand what went wrong in the preceding hundred years. Historian Edward Kantowicz provides an engaging narrative of the events, people, and ideas driving the world's social and political course in the twentieth century in his two-volume work, The World in the Twentieth Century.

In Coming Apart, Coming Together, volume 2 of his narrative history of the twentieth century, Edward Kantowicz explores the landmark events that shaped the planet after World War II. Noting that this period was dominated by two global events-the superpower Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and the revolt against imperialism in Africa, Asia, and Latin America-Kantowicz shows how the trajectories of each have driven nations apart while, at the same time, also created political and regional alliances for bringing the world closer together. Providing compelling, often disconcerting reading, this volume helps make sense of what is happening in the world today by considering important lessons from our recent past.