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The History of the World

Sixth Edition

J. M. Roberts and O. A. Westad

This is a classic, world-renowned copyright, years in the making; its stature as an authoritative and engaging synthesis has endured
Westad has full revised the text and brought it up to date, to include the developments of the last decade

New to this Edition:

Revised to incorporate the remarkable gains in archeological and anthropological knowledge of early human life on earth made over the past decade
Extended treatment of India and China
Addition of new knowledge on major migration
Revised discussion of Central Eurasia, early Islam and of the late Byzantine empire
Extended treatment of the history of science, technology and economic issues
Additions to the presentation of the social and cultural roles of women and young people

The History of the World

Sixth Edition

J. M. Roberts and O. A. Westad

Description

J.M. Roberts's renowned History of the World is widely considered the finest available one-volume survey of the major events, developments, and personalities of the known past, offering generations of readers a tour of the vast landscape of human history.

In this new edition, Bancroft Prize-winning historian Odd Arne Westad has completely revised this landmark work to bring the narrative up to the twenty-first century, including the 9/11 attacks and the wars in the Middle East. Westad utilizes the remarkable gains in scholarship in recent decades to enhance the book's coverage of early human life and vastly improve the treatment of India and China, Central Eurasia, early Islam, and the late Byzantine Empire, as well as the history of science, technology, and economics. The result is a truly remarkable work of compression and synthesis, sweeping through thousands of years of history, weaving the stories of empires, art, religion, economics, and science into a lucid and engaging narrative. Ranging from the early hominids and the emergence of Mesopotamian civilizations and ancient Egypt, the book illuminates such topics as 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; also covered are the struggle for American independence, the French Revolution, the colonial empires, Japan's startling modernization, and the World Wars.

With over 90 informative maps, The History of the World remains the finest, most readable survey in print.

The History of the World

Sixth Edition

J. M. Roberts and O. A. Westad

BOOK ONE
BEFORE HISTORY
Introduction
1 The Foundations
2 Homo Sapiens
3 The Possibility of Civilization

BOOK TWO
CIVILIZATIONS
Introduction
1 Early Civilized Life
2 Ancient Mesopotamia
3 Ancient Egypt
4 Intruders and Invaders
5 The Beginnings of Civilization in South Asia
6 Ancient China
7 The Other Worlds of the Ancient Past
8 Transformations

BOOK THREE
THE CLASSICAL AGE
Introduction
1 Remaking the Old World
2 The Greeks
3 The Hellenistic World
4 Rome
5 Christianity and Western Transition
6 Classical India
7 Classical China

BOOK FOUR
THE AGE OF DIVERGING TRADITIONS
Introduction
1 The Central Eurasian Crossroads
2 Islam and the Arab Empires
3 Byzantium and Its Sphere
4 The New Near East and the Making of Europe
5 India
6 Imperial China
7 Japan
8 Worlds Apart
9 Europe: The Possibility of Change
10 New Limits, New Horizons

BOOK FIVE
THE MAKING OF THE EUROPEAN AGE
Introduction
1 Qing China and Mughal India
2 A New Kind of Society: Early Modern Europe
3 Authority and Its Challengers in Europe
4 The New World of Great Powers
5 Europe's Assault on the World
6 World History's New Shape
7 Ideas Old and New

BOOK SIX
THE GREAT ACCELERATION
Introduction
1 Long-term Change
2 Political Change in an Age of Revolution
3 Political Change: A New Europe
4 Political Change: The Anglo-Saxon World
5 The European World Hegemony
6 Imperialism and Imperial Rule
7 Asian Metamorphoses

BOOK SEVEN
THE END OF THE EUROPEAN AGE
Introduction
1 Strains in the System
2 The Era of the First World War
3 The Making of a New Asia
4 The Ottoman Heritage and the Western Islamic Lands
5 The Second World War
6 Decolonisation and Cold War

BOOK EIGHT
OUR OWN TIME
Introduction
1 Revolutions in Science and Perceptions
2 The Cold War World
3 Crises and Détente
4 The Closing of an Era
5 Openings and Closures
6 Whole World History

The History of the World

Sixth Edition

J. M. Roberts and O. A. Westad

Author Information

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. He is also renowned as the author and presenter of the BBC TV series The Triumph of the West (1985).

Odd Arne Westad is Professor of International History at the London School of Economics. He has published fifteen books on modern and contemporary international history, among them The Global Cold War, which won the Bancroft Prize, and Decisive Encounters, a standard history of the Chinese civil war. He is general editor of the forthcoming three-volume Cambridge History of the Cold War.

The History of the World

Sixth Edition

J. M. Roberts and O. A. Westad

Reviews and Awards

Acclaim for earlier editions

"A stupendous achievement...the unrivalled world history of our day." --A.J.P. Taylor, The Observer

"Intelligently organized, insightful, and balanced...a fine addition to any library." --The Christian Science Monitor

"It is greatly to John Roberts's credit that after a generation on the Oxford tutorial treadmill he can write so lively and so continuously interesting a book."--The Economist

"Roberts writes well, with style and verve and wit."--Library Journal

"It is always something of an amazement that anyone would be courageous enough to attempt such a work--and in fewer than 1,000 pages--but Roberts clearly succeeds with a steady, clear-headed style that carries the reader along through the centuries."--Chicago Tribune

"Epic yet readable, perfect for those who find History of the Universe too daunting to crack."--The Philadelphia Inquirer

The History of the World

Sixth Edition

J. M. Roberts and O. A. Westad

From Our Blog

The History of the World: North Korea invades South Korea

In 1945 Korea had been divided along the 38th parallel, its industrial north being occupied by the Soviets and the agricultural south by the Americans. Korean leaders wanted a quick reunification, but only on their own terms, and the Communists taking power in the north did not see eye to eye with the nationalists whom the Americans supported in the south.

Posted on June 25, 2013

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The History of the World: Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated and the Treaty of Versailles

By J.M. Roberts and O.A. Westad Serbia did well in the 'Balkan Wars' of 1912'13, in which the young Balkan nations first despoiled the Ottoman empire of most that was left of its European territory and then fell out over the spoils. Serbia might have got more had the Austrians not objected.

Posted on June 28, 2013

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The History of the World: Nazis attack the USSR ('Operation Barbarossa')

In December 1940 planning began for a German invasion of the Soviet Union. By that winter, the USSR had made further gains in the west, apparently with an eye to securing a glacis against a future German attack. A war against Finland gave her important strategic areas. The Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were swallowed in 1940.

Posted on June 22, 2013

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The History of the World: Napoleon defeated at Waterloo

In the end, though the dynasty Napoleon hoped to found and the empire he set up both proved ephemeral, his work was of great importance. He unlocked reserves of energy in other countries just as the Revolution had unlocked them in France, and afterwards they could never be quite shut up again. He ensured the legacy of the Revolution its maximum effect, and this was his greatest achievement, whether he desired it or not.

Posted on June 18, 2013

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The History of the World: President Kennedy and the moon landing

Possibly spurred by a wish to offset a recent publicity disaster in American relations with Cuba, President Kennedy proposed in May 1961 that the United States should try to land a man on the moon (the first man-made object had already crash-landed there in 1959) and return him safely to earth before the end of the decade'¦

Posted on May 25, 2013

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The History of the World: Nixon visits Moscow

Posted on May 22, 2013

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The History of the World: Israel becomes a state

From the beginning of the Nazi persecution the numbers of Jews who wished to settle in Palestine rose. As the extermination policies began to unroll in the war years, they made nonsense of British attempts to restrict immigration, which was the side of British policy unacceptable to the Jews; the other side ' the partitioning of Palestine ' was rejected by the Arabs.

Posted on May 14, 2013

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