Chris Harman (1942-2009) was the editor of Socialist Worker and a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party in Britain. He wrote many articles, pamphlets and books including Class Struggles in Eastern Europe, Explaining the Crisis, Economics of the Madhouse, How Marxism Works and The Lost Revolution: Germany 1918 to 1923.

A new edition of the bestselling comprehensive radical history of the planet

In this monumental book, Chris Harman achieves the impossible-a gripping history of the planet from the perspective of struggling peoples throughout the ages.

From the earliest human societies to the Holy Roman Empire, from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, from the Industrial Revolution to the end of the twentieth century, Chris Harman provides a brilliant and comprehensive history of the human race. Eschewing the standard accounts of "Great Men," of dates and kings, Harman offers a groundbreaking counter-history, a breathtaking sweep across the centuries in the tradition of "history from below." In a fiery narrative, he shows how ordinary men and women were involved in creating and changing society and how conflict between classes was often at the core of these developments. While many scholars see the victory of capitalism as now safely secured, Harman explains the rise and fall of societies and civilizations throughout the ages and demonstrates that history moves ever onward in every age. This magisterial study is essential reading for anyone interested in how society has changed and developed and the possibilities for further radical progress.