William Langer's An Encyclopedia of World History

Shortly after I arrived in Baton Rouge to begin studies toward a Ph.D. in history in the early 1970s, I was assigned the dubious task of giving lectures and grading examinations in History 1001, the first half of “Western Civilizations.” After attempting to grade the first semester's exams, which always included a section of identifications, I began to look seriously for a standard reference book of people, places, and dates, since the students were much given to inventive imagination. Several fellow graduate students advised me to obtain a copy of “Langer,” which they referred to as the “Historian's Bible.” It was to be one of my wisest purchases, and the book has continued to serve me well over the years. The book to which they referred me was William Langer's An Encyclopedia of World History, which a prominent historian has called the “Diary of Humankind.”