This book provides an analysis of the latest research findings in the field of world history, and includes terse articulations of modernity vis-à-vis empire. In doing so, the author brings together insights from both the disciplines of history and international relations into world systems, emphasising economic aspects, and offering a road map for the evolution of the field of world history.

The book achieves this by critically analysing the works of Peter Fibiger Bang, Christopher Alan Bayly, Walter Scheidel, Krishnan Kumar, Xin Fan, Christopher A. Ford and Diego Olstein. The author includes discussions such as how the Roman empire impacted all subsequent Western empires, both early and modern, and current debates in world history and politics such as China’s rise.