A tumultuos transition -- European imperialism and the remaking of the world -- Emancipation and the quest for 'development' -- Good-bye to the 'third world' -- Asia looms over Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East -- Captive to commodities -- Nicaragua as a sobering illustration -- Seeking a new compass.

"This book analyzes how the poorer countries of the world have a shared history: these many countries were assaulted, overrun, and sometimes even formed by European colonialism. The wave of accessions to legal independence in the aftermath of World War II was of extraordinary importance. There was an intoxicating confidence and determination, a sense that everything was possible. A half-century later, the world looks different. The author adroitly delineates the uneven performance of newly-constructed or reimagined nation-states, and the shifting perceptions of the poorer countries in the world."-- Taken from back cover.