Timelines of World History

John Teeple's Timelines Of World History packs a cross-cultural journey through human history in a timeline format which excels in color photos and drawings. High school through adult readers will find Timelines Of World History to be a delightfully easy way to absorb world history, as the colorful timelines offer the opportunity to easily compare cultural developments around the world at different points in time. An outstanding and very highly recommended presentation.

"This work has been prepared with two major objectives. The first is to provide a reference work which looks at the world as an outsider - as though standing on the moon, a possibility which is no longer the stuff of fantasy. The second is to separate fact from interpretation." ~John B. Teeple DK is well known for their interest in creating some of the most fascinating books you will ever read. Not only is this book filled with full-color maps, it is also illustrated with contemporary and archival photographs and artwork. The features include: Entries organized according to dates and geographic regions, beautifully illustrated timelines, feature boxes and captions, cross-reference navigation tools, introductory narrative for each timeline, encyclopedic Subject Index and Glossary, comprehensive information on the arts, science and technology, exploration, philosophy and religion. The sidebars are used for detailed captions and additional chronologies. I also loved the "snapshot" maps where the pages fold out and you can see how the world evolves over time. You can visually compare the world in 1000 BCE with the world in 1975. The quick reference timelines at the start of each chapter shows the most important events of that time period. How is this book set up? As you read through this book you will find four columns: Asia, Africa, Europe and Americas & Australasian. On page 454 and 455 you will see lots of information, including the following facts: ASIA: 2002 Musharraf wins Pakistan general election. AFRICA: 2002 The threat of famine looms large in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Lesotho as crops fail due to droughts and floods. EUROPE: 2002 Single European currency - the Euro-introduced in 11 of the 15 EU Member States. AMERICAS & AUSTRALASIA: 2002 Estimated Internet users worldwide 530 million. On each side of the four columns, you will find pictures with information on the Conflict in the Middle East, Asylum-seekers in Europe and a summary of Sept 11. While it doesn't seem much is going on in the Americas and Australasia until page 249, you have to see this all in context. Often this area is filled with pictures, so the space is not wasted. Basically the timelines show what happened and when. It is that simple. This book spans from 10,000 BCE to 2002. For instance, you will find entries like: c.1000 Adena culture develops in middle Ohio river valley in eastern N America. Things start picking up after pg. 271 when Christopher Columbus makes his appearance in search of Asia and lands on the Bahamas on his first expedition. The United States of America is not a big section of this book, simply because it is a young country in comparison to countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. I say all this to put the information in this book into perspective. It does seem that the editors went out of their way to include as much information as they could before the 15th century. The Main Contents include: T

Timelines Of World History packs a cross-cultural journey through human history in a timeline format which excels in color photos and drawings. High school through adult readers will find Timelines Of World History to be a delightfully easy way to absorb world history, as the colorful timelines offer the opportunity to easily compare cultural developments around the world at different points in time. An outstanding presentation.

Timelines of World History, written over a 15 year period, provides an impartial, world-wide look at human history. Most chronologies have an inherent cultural bias. The author states in his forward that he wrote this as if he were looking at the earth from the vantage point of space. What you would see would be continents, not countries or empires. The narrative at the beginning of each major era provides an overview of the period and explains its place in the scheme of human history. The exquisite photos, graphics and sidebars highlight important personages, technological milestones and artistic wonders. The detailed maps featured on the reverse side of the gate-fold narrative provide a beautiful visual representation of the period.The Concordances at the end provide additional information on each country and pertinent historical figures. China, for example, has a chronology of its dynasties and contributions.This work is compact enough for handy reference, but detailed enough for an in-depth understanding of the contributions of cultures over time. I work as a high school librarian. My teachers are enthusiastic about this new work. Some of us are finding this to be the perfect Christmas gift to anyone interested in the world around them!