The definitive account of our turbulent times

Politics: Age of Anger: A History of the Present, By Pankaj Mishra, Allen Lane, €23

Supporters cheer during a Donald Trump campaign event in November 2016: Pankaj Mishra claims that unpredictable figures like Trump are profiting from a rage that festers at the heart of the modern world Pic: Getty

To quote Howard Beale – the alcoholic anchorman who streaks like a meteor through Paddy Chayevsky’s great film Network (1976) – “I don’t have to tell you things are bad. We know things are bad.”

Oh, things are bad, all right: Trump, Brexit, Isis, North Korea’s nuclear programme, the US Muslim ban, the return of white nationalism, fake news, worldwide protests, Putin, war in Syria. How the hell did we get here? In ...