Taking up the mantle of Winston Churchill, Roberts delivers the ambitious sequel to one of the greatest, most influential books of the 20th century. In 1900, where Churchill ended the fourth volume of his History of the English Speaking Peoples, the United States had not yet emerged onto the world scene as a great power. Meanwhile, the British Empire was in decline but did not yet know it. Any number of other powers might have won primacy in the twentieth century and beyond, including Germany, Russia, possibly even France. Yet the coming century was to belong to the English-speaking peoples, who successively and successfully fought the Kaisers Germany, Axis aggression and Soviet Communism, and who are now struggling against Islamic fundamentalist terrorism.

Skillfully designed for readers with little or no prior knowledge of the topics covered, this thoroughly updated edition of Introducing Global Issues both introduces and helps students to make sense of the most pressing global issues of our time—climate change, weapons proliferation, populist authoritarianism, the war in Gaza, conflict-driven migration, sustainable development, and much more. Each chapter provides an analytical overview of the issue addressed, identifies central actors and perspectives, and outlines past progress and future prospects. Discussion questions are posed to enhance students’ appreciation of the complexities involved, and suggestions for additional reading further enrich the text.

This book offers a comprehensive guide to global literary engagement with the Cold War. Eschewing the common focus on national cultures, the collection defines Cold War literature as an international current focused on the military and ideological conflicts of the age and characterised by styles and approaches that transcended national borders. Drawing on specialists from across the world, the volume analyses the period’s fiction, poetry, drama and autobiographical writings in three sections: dominant concerns (socialism, decolonisation, nuclearism, propaganda, censorship, espionage), common genres (postmodernism, socialism realism, dystopianism, migrant poetry, science fiction, testimonial writing) and regional cultures (Asia, Africa, Oceania, Europe and the Americas). In doing so, the volume forms a landmark contribution to Cold War literary studies which will appeal to all those working on literature of the 1945-1989 period, including specialists in comparative literature, postcolonial literature, contemporary literature and regional literature.