The human journey : a concise introduction to world history / Kevin Reilly.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The long prologue : from 14 billion years ago -- The brave new world of city, state, and pasture : from 3000 BCE -- Eurasian classical cultures and empires : 600 BCE--200 CE -- The spread of new ways in Eurasia : 200 CE--1000 CE -- The making of an Afro-Eurasian network : 1000 CE--1450 CE -- Parallel worlds of inner Africa, the Americas, and Oceania : before 1450 -- Empires and encounters in the early modern era : 1450-1750 -- The roots of globalization : 1450-1750 -- Breaking out and the first modern societies : 1750-1900 -- The great disturbance by global empires : 1750-1940 -- The modern world and global realignments : the past century -- Beneath the surface of globalization and modernity : the past century.

The Human Journey offers a truly concise yet satisfying full history of the world from ancient times to the present. Its themes include not only the great questions of the humanities--nature versus nurture, the history and meaning of human variation, the sources of wealth, and causes of revolution--but also the major transformations in human history: agriculture, cities, iron, writing, universal religions, global trade, industrialization, popular government, justice, and equality. Beginning with our most important questions and searching all of our past for answers, this is world history in a grand humanistic tradition.