By Neil Faulkner

Published by Pluto Press in Sep 2018 592 pages £16

‘In a world of deepening danger where reactionary narratives continue to hijack the mainstream, Neil Faulkner makes a powerful and necessary case reminding us of the truly radical history driving human social and political evolution’ – Rachel Holmes, author of ‘Eleanor Marx: A Life’

‘One of the finest historians on the left’ – John Newsinger, author of The Blood Never Dried: A People’s History of the British Empire (Bookmarks, 2006)

‘Staggeringly ambitious’ – New Internationalist

Overview

History is a weapon. The powerful have their version of events, the people have another. And if we understand how the past was forged, we arm ourselves to change the future.

This is the history of the struggle and revolution of human society: of hominids, hunters and herders; of emperors and slaves; of patriarchs and women; of rich and poor; of dictators and revolutionaries. From the ancient empires of Persia and Rome to the Russian Revolution, the Vietnam War, and the 2008 Crash, this is a history of greed and violence, but also of solidarity and resistance.

Many times in the past, a different society became an absolute necessity. Humans have always struggled to create a better life. This history proves that we, the many, have the power to change the world.

Series Preface
Introduction
1. Hunters and Farmers c. 7 million-3000 BP
2. The First Class Societies c. 3000-1000 BC
3. Ancient Empires c. 1000-30 BC
4. The End of Antiquity c. 30 BC- AD 650
5. The Medieval World c. AD 650-1500
6. European Feudalism c. AD 650-1500
7. The First Wave of Bourgeois Revolutions 1517-1660
8. Absolutist Europe and Capitalist Globalisation 1660-1775
9. The Second Wave of Bourgeois Revolutions 1775-1815
10. The Rise of Industrial Capitalism c. 1750-1850
11. The Age of Blood and Iron 1848-1873
12. Imperialism and War 1873-1918
13. The Revolutionary Wave 1917-1928
14. The Great Depression and the Rise of Fascism 1929-1939
15. World War and Cold War 1939-1967
16. The World on Fire 1968-1975
17. The New World Disorder 1975-2008
18. Capitalism’s Greatest Crisis? The Early Twenty-First Century
Conclusion: Making the Future
Timeline
Sources
Bibliographical Notes
Select Bibliography
Index

The book can be purchased from Pluto Press here.