I read most of the book probably 60% or more. I focused on the history before my birth in 1952. It’s a very dry book. I did not notice any political leanings or ideology been expressed. It read like a newspaper from the 1960s. Just the facts...

Gosh it was a depressing read. There were so many stories around acts of barbarism, innocent people being killed, dying of starvation etc. It was hard to consider most of the world “civilized” where so much hatred and violence occurred.

Human kindness and civility did not keep pace with the rise in technology though much of that were in weapons of war.

We are not starting the 21st century much better. Heck, the world may not make it to 2100.

The author did document the influenza or pandemic around 1918-1921. No vaccines or social distancing prescribed back then.

Incredibly long book, close to 1,000 pages. Die hard scholars and readers of world history should take this refresher course of 20th century history.
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I had to return this to the library before I finished it (or really, before I even got started) - I will definitely be checking it out again.