The extraordinary events of the last few years have made this eighth edition come sooner than usual after its predecessor. It is of course too early to assess the magnitude and consequences of what has happened, but we have done much new writing, rewriting, rewording, and rearrangement to present the upheavals in Eastern Europe, the disintegration fo the former Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, the end of the Cold War, the Islamic fundamentalist movement, changes in latin america, and much else.
