H G Wells (1866–1946) was an English writer of science fiction, social commentary, history, satire and biography. This is (undeservedly) one of his less well-known works, incorporating enormous amounts of research to trace the history of the world from its creation in Space to the early 20th century. Originally published in 1922, this edition was brought up to date by the author with the inclusion of four extra chapters: 'The League of Nations'; 'The Failure of the League of Nations'; 'The Second World War' [which was still ongoing at the time of writing]; and 'The Crisis of Human Adaptation'. Illustrated with 20 maps.