The New History of the World

by Roberts, J.M.; Westad, Odd Arne

• ISBN13: 9780199861880
• ISBN10: 0199861889
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2014-06-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

From the evolution of Homo sapiens to the exploration of space, the vast landscape of human history stretches out before the reader in J.M. Roberts's renowned and newly revisedHistory of the World. Deftly written and evocatively illustrated, this book offers the finest available one-volume survey of the major events, developments, and personalities of the known past. In a truly remarkable work of compression and synthesis, Roberts sweeps through thousands of years of history, weaving the stories of empires, art, religion, economics, and science into his lucid narrative. Beginning with the early hominids, he swiftly and authoritatively brings the story up through the emergence of Mesopotamian civilizations and ancient Egypt. Here, too, is comprehensive coverage of the Indian and Chinese civilizations as well as developments in Africa and South America. The story leaps ahead, through the Roman Empire, the explosive arrival of Islam, the rise and fall of samurai rule in Japan, the medieval kingdoms of sub-Saharan Africa, the Mongol conquests, and the early modern expansion of Europe across the globe. American independence, the French Revolution, the colonial empires, Japan's startling modernization, and the World Wars follow in turn, accompanied by discussions of scientific and technical breakthroughs. For the new Fifth Edition, Odd Arne Westad has revised the entire work and added a new section that brings the history up to the twenty-first century, including 9/11 and the wars in the Middle East. With informative maps, photographs, and reproductions of important artwork (some in full color), the vividly written and beautifully illustratedHistory of the Worldoffers the finest, most readable one-volume survey in print. "Lively and continuously interesting." --The Economist "Intelligently organized, insightful, and balanced...a fine addition to any library." --The Christian Science Monitor "A stupendous achievement...the unrivalled world history of our day." --A. J. P. Taylor,The Observer

Author Biography

J. M. Roberts CBE died in 2003. He was Warden at Merton College, Oxford University, until his retirement and is widely considered one of the leading historians of his era.
Odd Arne Westad is Professor of International History at the London School of Economics. He is general editor of the forthcoming three-volume Cambridge History of the Cold War.