Chapter Summary

The first chapter of the book lays out the introductory material:

• • · It explains and justifies the many unique features of the book, and also addresses how the author follows interdisciplinary strategies that allow him to pursue a mix of “modernist” and “postmodernist” approaches to history.

  • · It identifies key and subsidiary themes, and how these interact

Instructors who wish to proceed directly in class to the historical narrative might assign this chapter as student reading at the outset and then refer back to it during later discussions.

I should stress here that our themes include both basic human nature and individual differences in ability and personality. The individual can too easily recede into the background in world history texts, seemingly the unwitting victim of forces beyond their control. We will strive to retain a place for humans in our history. In particular the reader will often be asked to place themselves within the historical narrative. We will also, as noted above, discuss a set of challenges that face a variety of historical actors.

The second through fifth parts then provide the historical narrative:

· Chapter 2 addresses the Big History prelude: from the Big Bang to the emergence of hominids. This chapter shows that our organizing structure can be applied equally well to these natural historical processes.

· Chapter 3 looks at human evolution from early hominids to Homo Sapiens, discussing tool-making, language, migration, and several associated topics.

· The remaining chapters are structured in order to achieve two main aims. We want on the one hand to have unified chapter-length (sometimes shorter) analytical narratives of major episodes in world history, such as the Islamic conquests or Industrial Revolution; these will engage both the influences on and effects of historical processes, as well as their nature. These episodes may overlap temporally; we will not restrict ourselves to a strict chronological treatment, but rather allow the nature of these episodes to determine the appropriate time period addressed in different chapters. Note that some historical processes unfold more quickly than others.

· On the other hand, we want to ensure that all of our main themes are discussed through all time periods. We should know, for example, how human population grew, whether average incomes grew, and what key technological innovations occurred. We will, when necessary, have shorter sections of chapters that discuss how certain themes that have not otherwise received much attention interacted with those discussed elsewhere. Moreover, readers will be asked in the questions at the end of each chapter how other themes might fit into the chapter narrative(s).

· Note that connections and comparisons across societies are a key element of this text (as most other World History texts). Since all connections involve thematic interactions (since ideas and objects are transmitted but only have an effect once applied to various themes, and changes to one theme usually require adjustments in other themes), these can often usefully be diagrammed. And comparisons are rendered transparent by referring explicitly to the themes, interactions, and evolutionary processes being compared.

The final and shortest part then asks what sort of lessons can be drawn from world history.

It is generally hoped in the world history literature that familiarity with our past will allow us to build a better future. This book will take that task seriously but with humility. We will devote an entire chapter to discussing what the future might look like. Whereas it is common to draw analogies (any leader who seems to be appeasing another is compared to Chamberlain), we can draw better lessons from history by focusing on particular processes and interactions. We will also discuss whether there are lessons regarding the meaning of life in world history (addressing, among other things, whether it makes sense to speak of “progress”), and an assessment of the value of our organizing structure. We will honestly assess the degree to which human efforts to shape a better world have succeeded in the past, and discuss how likely this is in future.