Annotated Bibliography in Global History (20th–21st Centuries)

Global and connected histories

Sanjay Subrahmanyam – Connected Histories: Notes towards a Reconfiguration of Early Modern Eurasia (1997; various editions)

A foundational intervention in global history methodology. Subrahmanyam proposes “connected histories” as an alternative to Eurocentric narratives, emphasizing circulation, interaction, and entanglement across regions—an approach highly influential for twentieth-century global historiography.

Prasenjit Duara – The Crisis of Global Modernity: Asian Traditions and a Sustainable Future (2015)

A wide-ranging reinterpretation of global modernity from an Asian perspective. Combines environmental, cultural, and social history to challenge Western-centered models of development.

Sugata Bose – A Hundred Horizons: The Indian Ocean in the Age of Global Empire (2006)

A transnational history of the Indian Ocean world that foregrounds mobility, networks, and alternative forms of globalization beyond Europe.

Global capitalism, inequality, and postcolonial critique

Kenneth Pomeranz – The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy (2000)

A major comparative work that challenges Eurocentric explanations of global economic dominance. Essential for understanding global inequality and long-term development patterns.

Vijay Prashad – The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World (2007)

A global history of the Global South during the Cold War era. Highlights solidarity movements, decolonization, and alternative visions of world order.

Walter Mignolo – The Darker Side of Western Modernity (2011)

A broad theoretical and historical critique of modernity and globalization. Introduces key concepts such as coloniality and epistemic decolonization.

Aníbal Quijano – Coloniality of Power and Eurocentrism in Latin America (2000)

A highly influential essay in global historical theory. Provides a framework for understanding how colonial structures shape modern global inequalities.

Africa, empire, and global interconnections

Frederick Cooper – Colonialism in Question: Theory, Knowledge, History (2005)

A collection of essays that critically examines empire, labor, and citizenship in a global context. Offers a nuanced approach to colonial and postcolonial social transformations.

Achille Mbembe – On the Postcolony (2001)

A major theoretical contribution to global and African history. Explores power, subjectivity, and everyday life in postcolonial societies.

Asia-centered global history

Wang Hui – The End of the Revolution: China and the Limits of Modernity (2009)

A broad reinterpretation of modern Chinese and global history, engaging with themes of modernization, capitalism, and political transformation.

Cemil Aydin – The Idea of the Muslim World: A Global Intellectual History (2017)

A transnational intellectual history that traces the emergence of the “Muslim world” as a global concept shaped by imperialism and globalization.

Latin American and global perspectives

Enrique Dussel – Politics of Liberation: A Critical World History (2011)

A large-scale reinterpretation of world history from a decolonial perspective. Challenges Eurocentric narratives and foregrounds global South experiences.

Eduardo Galeano – Open Veins of Latin America (1971)

A classic (though more interpretive than academic) account of exploitation and dependency in Latin America, widely influential in global historical debates on inequality.