Book excerpt: Kris Manjapra weaves together the study of colonialism over the past 500 years, across the globe's continents and seas. This captivating work vividly evokes living human histories, introducing the reader to manifestations of colonialism as expressed through war, militarization, extractive economies, migrations and diasporas, racialization, biopolitical management, and unruly and creative responses and resistances by colonized peoples. This book describes some of the most salient political, social, and cultural constellations of our present times across the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe. By exploring the dissimilar, yet entwined, histories of conquest, settler colonialism, racial slavery, and empire, Manjapra exposes the enduring role of colonial force and freedom struggle in the making of our modern world.