The book of Ivan T. Berend is an exemplary work on the history of the turbulent twentieth century through a cross-section of economic changes. Berend set the book in an explicitly problem-centered and comparative manner. The six chapters are organized with respect to the predominant ideological and economic development models: the liberal economic model until the First World War, conceptual quests in the period between the two wars, the command economy model, the central planning economy model, the model of mixed economy in combination with welfare state and finally the globalization model with a tendency to reintroduce liberalization. The author assesses these historical development models from the perspective of a long-term quality of the economic development and achieved living standard of the population throughout the entire century, including regional variations. In doing so, he is convincing by successfully synthesizing a multitude of historical and economical processes and then breaking them down by industries and regions, as well as with revealing examples of successes or failures experienced by some of the most important companies, businessmen and projects.

In conclusion, the key to understanding our times lies precisely in the dynamics and intensity of the economic and social modernization on the European continent throughout the twentieth century.