Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION: THE IDEA OF PROGRESS THE ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL WORLDS: c.3000 BC-1399 THE EARLY MODERN WORLD: 1400-1789 THE 19TH-CENTURY WORLD: 1790-1899 THE MODERN WORLD: 1900-2003 CONCLUSION. TOWARDS ONE WORLD

Promotional Information

A complete work of world-historical reference, fully international in its scope; Provides an accurate, informative, usable and comprehensive summary of world events, from Sargon to Saddam; Enables the user to find dates for key events with the maximum of ease, and to trace lines of connection and sequence; Allows the user to compare events happening in different parts of the world at the same time, and to identify surprising simultaneities; Accessible narrative essays on key themes, movements and periods - and profiles of the 100 top thinkers who have influenced history - provide a contextual

About the Author

Hywel Williams is a a Guardian columnist specialising in history and politics, and the author of the acclaimed GUILTY MEN, an acerbic study of the declining years of John Major's 1992-97 Conservative government. His 6-part television history of modern Wales, 'A Promised Land?', will be broadcast this summer by HTV/Carlton.

Reviews

Many people have tried to write histories of the world: but the sheer scope of the task has often defeated even the most intelligent and gifted writers. In this immensely valuable and absorbing book, Hywel Williams takes the most straightforward approach to this immeasurable subject... This is a superb book of its type, written with real authority and with a majestic sweep. It should be an essential part of the library of any intelligent household." -- SIMON HEFFER COUNTRY LIFE "What sets Hywel Williams's book apart is the analysis he applies to the avalanche of facts he presents... William's thoughtful essays, dotted throughout the book, give structure and context to the overall work... books such as this are invaluable, and this particular one is the best of the large crop available." -- ANDREW ROBERTS NEW STATESMAN "definitely one for the would-be scholar who has never had time to learn dates, names and places. It's all there... in a simple, comprehensive and immensely interesting near-770 page compendium." JEWISH TELEGRAPH