Global Connections: Volume 1, To 1500
Politics, Exchange, and Social Life in World History

Volume 1 of this undergraduate history textbook covers the origin of hominids through to the Middle Ages.

John Coatsworth (Author), Juan Cole (Author), Michael P. Hanagan (Author), Peter C. Perdue (Author), Charles Tilly (Author), Louise Tilly (Author)

9780521145183, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 16 March 2015

437 pages, 45 b/w illus.
27.9 x 21.5 x 1.8 cm, 1.2 kg

'I am deeply impressed by these two magisterial volumes. Retrieving the experiences of ordinary people and highlighting the many interactions between different parts of the globe, they offer us a new perspective on humankind's past. After this, world history will never be the same. These are truly marvelous books!' Marcel van der Linden, International Institute of Social History

The first textbook to present world history via social history, drawing on social science methods and research. This interdisciplinary, comprehensive and comparative textbook is authored by distinguished scholars and experienced teachers, and offers expert scholarship on global history that is ideal for undergraduate students. Volume 1 takes us from the origin of hominids to ancient civilizations, the rise of empires, and the Middle Ages. The book pays particular attention to the ways in which ordinary people lived through the great changes of their times, and how everyday experience connects to great political events and the commercial exchanges of an interconnected world. With 65 maps, 45 illustrations, timelines, boxes, and primary source extracts, the book moves students easily from particular historical incidents to broader perspectives, enabling them to use historical material and social science methodologies to analyze the events of the past, present and future.

Introduction
Part I. 5000–600 BCE: The Rise of Cities, States and Pastoralism: 1. From human origins to the farming transformation
2. Cities and states
3. People on the move
Part II. 600 BCE–600 CE: A World of Regions: 4. Africa and the Americas: making history in challenging environments
5. East, Central and South Asia: the religious foundations of empires
6. The Ancient Mediterranean
Part III. 600–900 CE: States, Empires, and Religions: 7. The Middle East and Europe
8. The heyday of the Silk Road
9. The rise and fall of states in the Americas and Africa, 600–1200 CE
Part IV. 900–1200 CE: Fragmentation, Feudalism, and Urbanization: 10. Europe and the Muslim World
11. Paradoxes of plenty in Song China, Byzantium, and Kievan Russia
Part V. 1200–1500 CE: Conquest and Commerce: 12. The Americas and Africa
13. The Mongol Conquests and their legacies
14. Europe and the world.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], General & world history [HBG]