I read this book along with all of the others in the TimeFrame series as my initial introduction to history. They run from Pre-History up to the early 1990's in a chronological manner spanning some 25 volumes.
Reading this series will make your entire study of history much more meaningful and rewarding. It is perfect for anyone who needs an overarching understanding of how the different periods of human history developed and how each period and event relates to the context of the whole.
I knew almost nothing of history when I found this series of books and I thoroughly devoured them.
This series of books provides a fantastic blueprint of the history of the world. It lays out the chronology and the geography of the major themes and events of world history in a very coherent, organized structure. Using this series as a starting place, every other aspect of history you will subsequently learn about will only add to what you've read here as you fill out your knowledge. Reading history books is not necessarily meaningful or intriguing without the ability to place what you're reading into a wider context. After reading this series you will be able to understand any element of history much better by realizing how it relates to the whole.
In sum, I cannot recommend these books enough for anyone wanting a compelling and comprehensive overview of world history.