''The Cambridge World History'' is a seven volume history of the world in nine books published by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

in 2015. The editor in chief is Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks. The history takes a comparativist approach.

Approach

Speaking in 2013, the editor of volume three,

Norman Yoffee Norman Yoffee (25 May 1944) is a senior fellow of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. He was previously professor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Department of Anthropology at the University of ...

, described the history as being "conceived by a group of world historians, that is people who insist that large indeed global relations are essential in understanding local histories, and they are dedicated comparativists."

Organisation

Each volume is organised as a series of essays with accompanying photographs, illustrations, diagrams and maps. The separate volumes take a thematic and chronologically overlapping approach. The first volume discusses the period before the invention of writing including the

Paleolithic era The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος '' lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone to ...

to 10,000 BCE. The second discusses the development of agriculture and the period 12,000 BCE to 500 CE. Later volumes cover progressively shorter but still overlapping periods.

Volumes and editors

The work is in seven volumes over nine books, volumes 6 and 7 being published in two parts each.''The Cambridge World History''.
Cambridge Histories Online. Retrieved 18 February 2016. *''Volume 1: Introducing World History, to 10,000 BCE'', David Christian. *''Volume 2: A World with Agriculture, 12,000 BCE–500 CE'',

Graeme Barker Graeme William Walter Barker, (born 23 October 1946) is a British archaeologist, notable for his work on the Italian Bronze Age, the Roman occupation of Libya, and landscape archaeology. Early life and education Barker was born on 23 October ...

and Candice Goucher. *''Volume 3: Early Cities in Comparative Perspective, 4000 BCE–1200 CE'', Norman Yoffee. *''Volume 4: A World with States, Empires and Networks 1200 BCE–900 CE'', Craig Benjamin. *''Volume 5: Expanding Webs of Exchange and Conflict, 500CE–1500CE'', Benjamin Z. Kedar and Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks. *''Volume 6: The Construction of a Global World, 1400–1800 CE, Part 1: Foundations'', Jerry H. Bentley, Sanjay Subrahmanyam and Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks. *''Volume 6: The Construction of a Global World, 1400–1800 CE, Part 2: Patterns of Change'', Jerry H. Bentley, Sanjay Subrahmanyam and Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks. *''Volume 7: Production, Destruction and Connection, 1750–Present, Part 1: Structures, Spaces, and Boundary Making'', John McNeill and

Kenneth Pomeranz Kenneth Pomeranz, FBA (born November 4, 1958) is University Professor of History at the University of Chicago. He received his B.A. from Cornell University in 1980, where he was a Telluride Scholar, and his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1988, ...

. *''Volume 7: Production, Destruction and Connection 1750–Present, Part 2: Shared Transformations'', John McNeill and Kenneth Pomeranz.

References

Cambridge University Press books History books 2015 non-fiction books World history {{hist-book-stub