The two world wars shook large parts of the non-European world. Battles were fought in South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Across the globe, European colonial powers made efforts to mobilize peoples and resources. At the same time, anti-colonial movements gained new momentum. While the non-European world has long been marginalized in the historiography of the world wars, scholars have recently shown an increasing interest in the role of the global periphery. The world in world wars makes a major contribution to this trend, bringing together articles on various regions of the world.

The first part of the book addresses the history of African and Asian colonial troops enlisted by the imperial powers in the wars. During the First World War, in India alone, British colonial authorities drafted no fewer than one million men. Focusing on the experiences of recruits of the lower ranks, articles outline the employment of Indian soldiers on the Western front (Claude Markovits), the organization and integration of Sepoy units in the European armies (Radhika Singha), and the history of Indian prisoners of war (Ravi Ahuja). In the Second World War, too, hundreds of thousands of non-Europeans were recruited into the European armies. Even some Malawian contingents fought against the Axis (Timothy J. Lovering). More significant for the Allied war effort, however, was the military contribution of the Arab world (Emad Ahmed Helal). The Nazi regime also tried to mobilize Arabs; yet, despite the collaboration of some eminent Muslim leaders, Arabs under Nazi rule were often confronted with racial discrimination (Gerhard Höpp and Peter Wien). In the end, all attempts by the Germans to employ Arab units in the field failed.

Contributions in the second section of the volume examine the impact of the war on public debates in Asia and Africa, looking at official documents and propaganda as well as private sources. Articles show how experiences of the First World War influenced poetry and memoirs of urban elites and the educated middle class in India (Santanu Das) and the Arab world (Dina Rizk Khoury), and the memoirs written by army veterans and civilians in rural Syria (Abdallah Hanna). In the First World War, both the Entente and the Central Powers launched extensive propaganda campaigns to mobilize the colonial world. One of the most fascinating articles of the book shows how the German Foreign Office produced and spread rumours among the Oraons in Chota Nagpur, where the image of Wilhelm II soon became a symbol of the struggle against local landlords and colonial authorities (Heike Liebau). In the Second World War, propaganda efforts were equally global in reach, as is shown in articles on military newspapers published in Swahili for East African soldiers (Katrin Bromber) and on local and foreign radio broadcasting in Tunisia (Morgan Corriou). Combined, the contributions give a rich account of the ways in which the wars were presented and experienced in the newly emerging public spheres in Asia and Africa.

Articles in the final part of the edition enquire into the impact of the wars on society, the economy, and the political order in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. They look at the effects of military mobilization on society in general, as well as on the struggles for national self-determination in Tunisia and Algeria (Thomas DeGeorges) and in French West Africa (Francesca Bruschi). Contributors also examine the influence of the First World War in South Africa (Anne Samson) and Syria (Nadine Méouchy) and the impact of the Second World War on everyday life and social mobility in the Kurd Dagh region of Allied-occupied Syria (Katharina Lange), in South African society (Suryakanthie Chetty), and on economic development schemes in India (Benjamin Zachariah).

The European empires, as is shown throughout the volume, played a crucial part in the global history of the world wars. In Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia the wars were interwoven with colonial occupation as well as the struggle for independence. It was the European empires, in fact, that turned the wars into ‘world wars’. Nevertheless, the editors stress that the history of the periphery should not be reduced to their contribution to the war effort of the great powers; indeed, most of the authors avoid seeing the colonies exclusively in relation to the imperial centre.

In general, the book urges us to rethink both the definition of ‘world’ when we speak about ‘world wars’, and, more importantly, periodization. In Iraq, the First World War only ended in 1920. In East Asia, the Second World War had begun with the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. And in Southeast Asia fighting did not cease in 1945 but continued with a number of fierce anti-colonial struggles, the ‘Forgotten Wars’, as Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper have called them. In short, the expansion of the geographic perspective on the world wars has implications for the start and end dates of the conflicts.

Bringing together scholars with a wide range of regional expertise, the book draws on an impressive body of sources from European, African, Asian, and Middle Eastern archives, as well as on some rare ‘ego-documents’ (autobiographical writings, whether diaries, memoirs, autobiographies, or other material). Unfortunately, some of the articles are burdened with unnecessary anthropological and post-colonial jargon and, owing to the regional specialization of the authors, read more like ethnographic case studies. Yet the introduction and organization of the volume provide a broader picture of global patterns and connections. Overall, The world in world wars offers unique insights into the African and Asian experience of the conflicts and a fresh perspective on the Age of World War.