The 21st century has been greeted with optimism by many people. But now democracy is in an existential crisis, wars are raging worldwide, the earth is heating up. Philipp Blom exposes the causes of this dramatic change between 9/11 and Russia's annexation of Crimea. With its attack on Iraq, the US is gambling away its credibility. In Italy, Berlusconi is the first real estate billionaire to take power and consolidate it through his own media empire. Everywhere, the market is displacing the welfare state and the common good, the gap between rich and poor is growing, and a struggle for power and digital supremacy is raging. Anyone who wants to understand the crises of the present must know their history: Philipp Blom is their sovereign chronicler. Comic Book 2026 New