An instant New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller from one of the world's leading economists. The Best book of 2022 according to Financial Times, How did the dream of universal wealth collide with the harsh reality of politics and economics, and why did the "golden age" never arrive? The answer to this question is explored in his large-scale work by economist and historian J. R. R. Tolkien. Bradford DeLong. In this book, you will learn how:– World wars, the Great Depression, and crises changed the rules of the game in the global economy. – The ideas of economists — from Marx and Keynes to Hayek — directly influenced politics and the fate of millions. – Technological revolutions — electrification, computers, the Internet — have transformed people's lives and businesses. – The conflicts of the past still shape our tomorrow. "The Economic History of the 20th Century" is not just a story about the past. This is the key to understanding the present and thinking about the future, which may yet become a utopia. Or not. "The book The Economic History of the Twentieth Century by J. B. DeLong is a bold attempt to combine decades of economic thought, political crises and technological changes into a single story about the long twentieth century. The author shows how the economy has become the main driving force of modernity and how humanity has sought a balance between market freedom and social justice. This is a book for those who want to understand how the ideas and decisions of the past shaped the economy and the world we live in today." — GRIGORY BAZHENOV, PhD in Economics, lecturer at the Higher School of Economics, Senior Researcher at the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University, author of the popular science blog about economics Furydrops.