He criticizes the view that early-twentieth-century strife was an aberration interrupting a long history of steady progress and increasing prosperity, instead arguing that disorder is endemic to modernity.

In the first half of the book Mishra dwells on the dispute between philosophers Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who lived during the eighteenth century when Enlightenment ideals and economic, political, and social liberalism began gaining momentum in Europe.

Critics praised the book's erudition, noting Mishra's ambitious and timely argument relying on thinkers both well-known and obscure.

Slate's Laura Miller stated, "The middle of the book could be heavy sledding for anyone lacking a passing familiarity with figures such as Fichte, Bakunin, and Kropotkin, but the chapters on how these European writers affected subsequent generations of leaders in India, Turkey, and China make it worth the effort.

"[4] Franklin Foer of The New York Times Book Review stated, "It's bracing and illuminating for him to focus on feelings, what he calls 'the wars in the inner world.'