Global History: Cultural Encounters from Antiquity to the Present

As a set of quick reference volumes this new source from M.E. Sharpe is excellent. It provides a brief but all encompassing picture of human history from the earliest times to the present in four volumes: Antiquity 5000BCE to 400CE; The Spread of Religions and Empires 400s to 1400s; The Age of Discovery and Colonial Expansion 1400s to 1900s; The Contemporary World 1900s to present. Although each volume covers a large swathe of history, perhaps the most negative aspect of the set, it is a practical resource that could be well used given the right setting.

Through the Preface the...