A must-read for anyone interested in global development and society. It's in some respects an update of the 2011 book "The Better Angels of our Nature", but it has a broader scope. Not only does it discuss the actual improvements that have occurred in the living conditions of humans globally, but it also traces those improvements to the influence of the Enlightenment. The relationships between the ideals of the Enlightenment and their partial, but expanding, implementation in real life, is explored in an excellent way. Finally, the enemies of Enlightenment are described and diagnosed.