Plainly written global history. Well organized. Attempts to derive certain principles while describing the events and their effects. The last chapter is the predictions. It's short, speculative, and of course, wrong and outdated. It is saved from being ridiculous by Asimov's clear statement at the start of the chapter that prediction is really a hopeless task and by his understanding of the science behind his main topics. Worth a read for the history, and probably to see how wrong this very well informed author could be about the future, while simultaneously being quite correct.