World History: Revised Illustrated Edition

In the first half of the 20th century, three renowned American historians collaborated on A World History, an account of humanity's past viewed through the evolution of civilizations. The book became popular in the United States and went through several revisions. It was translated in China in 1946 and 1948, and a further translation by Bing Xin, Wu Wenzao, Fei Xiaotong, and others was published in 1975. This edition uses the 1975 translation, replaces many illustrations with new, beautiful and engaging ones, and provides a wide variety of captions in the hope of capturing the spirit of the original. Although the book was written nearly a century ago, it remains both useful and engaging today. It divides the long span from the emergence of human civilization to the end of World War II in 1945 into four stages: the Beginnings of Civilization, Classical Civilization, Christian Civilization, and Modern Civilization. Its focus is particularly on the development of Western civilization. The writing is lively, the analysis precise, and its insights often fresh and surprising. The authors excel at using details to illuminate broad historical trends. In a relatively short space, they paint a vivid picture of the development of civilization, encompassing both elites and the everyday lives of ordinary people.