Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the World, Volume 1: Beginnings Through the Fifteenth Century

by Robert L. Tignor, Jeremy Adelman, Benjamin A. Elman

In this second edition, the book's non-Eurocentric approach continues with expansions of the original eleven world history "turning point" stories from the modern period to include ten more "turning point" stories from the earlier periods of world history. From the history of the world's first cities built on the great rivers of Afro-Eurasia, to the formation of the Silk Road, to the rise of nation-states, and the story of modern globalization, Worlds Together, Worlds Apart provides students with the stories that changed history and enables them to make the connections they need in order to better understand how the world came to be what it is today.

Genres: History, Read For School, Academic

545 pages, Paperback

First published February 11, 2008

Reviews

[Rajesh]

It's a textbook; hard to rate. They covered human history accurately? Nice maps (maybe too much information). The one good thing to come out of my aborted Coursera experience (fault mine) was getting this book, which I finally read as a refresher on human history. What a species...

[Rafi · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I read this textbook for class

This textbook does a great job at bringing up to speed almost all of human history (at least the parts they thought were important enough to be mentioned) for the reader. However, doing this makes them lack in many respects. One thing they didn't do so well on is spacing out the information dump. There is a LOT of information to take in when reading this textbook and almost every sentence contains a new detail and little-to-no expansion on anything prior. Therefore, when reading, it is imperative to have yourself completely focused and to avoid distractions. We had to answer questions based on the readings and I found myself having to refer to the textbook many times for some questions. Now, I wouldn't consider this an undergraduate-level textbook. I could definitely see this being used in an AP World History class or an IB class. The questions - at least for the digital version - were up to undergraduate level and the questions themselves were much harder than the textbook itself. Would I recommend this to anyone who wants to read a textbook and come up to speed with world history? Yes and no. Yes to those who will test themselves on what they read and No to those who will just be reading through it. I am sure there are better materials out there you can read to get a firmer grasp of early human history.

[Alok Ghimire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful account, especially towards the beginning. The book gets increasingly less interesting as we move towards the present, since the whole "worlds are converging" narrative gets a bit tedious and repetitive. I can't help feeling that the writers would have done better to change this vantage point of narration at about halfway through the book. The precise nature of some states, their peculiar institutions and economic practices need more attention than the fact that they managed to interact with one another. I'm not too excited about the second volume but the authority of the writers will I think impel me to be done with both the volumes.

[Julia Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly did not finish this. Nonetheless I have spent so much time reading Worlds Together Worlds Apart that I am counting it.

[Willis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a textbook for a world history class. I read this after taking a Coursera class that covered the 2nd volume. Like the 2nd volume this one takes a non-Western world view, so you will see a lot more about China, India and the Middle East with not as much about Europe. That was good because I wanted to learn more about some of the other areas of the world. It starts with the first humans and covers until about the year 1000 AD.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provided me with a basic understanding of certain civilizations. I feel I have learned a good amount, but history never really has been my subject!

[Deborah Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

factual errors. too much deference to Christianity. not impressed - there have to be better textbooks out there.