The last volume in this four volume series, covering the vast amount of time from the creation of the earth right up to the dawn of the 21st century.

Looking at the last 500 years; exploring the world; the Ottoman empire; the Mogul empire; Catholics and Protestants; Elizabethan England; kings, cavaliers and roundheads; the power of the Habsburgs; the rise of the Dutch; France and the Sun King; the age of ideas; changes in Russia; Russians and Prussians; early settlers in the Americas; settlers in North America; the slave trade; exploring the South Seas; the British in India; the American Revolution; the French Revolution; the empire of Napoleon; changes in farming; the Industrial Revolution; life in the new towns; the year of revolutions; new nations; revolutions in South America; the scramble for Africa; the American civil war; the growth of the USA; the Ming and the Ch'ing; changes in China; changes in Japan; the First World War; the Russian Revolution; Stalin's Soviet Union; the people's republic; good times, bad times; the rise of fascism; Europe at war; the world at war; from colonies to countries; war in the Middle East; the Cold War; the space race; the fall of communism; rights for all; sound and pictures; our polluted planet; the computer revolution; the end of the century; world time chart; word list.