World History in Brief, Combined Volume: Major Patterns of Change and Continuity

I am not a history buff! I bought this book for a college history class. I have been dreading this class just because of the reading. Surprisingly, this book isn't too bad! It is very well organized and just seems to flow and make sense. My only complaint is that the entire book is in black & white. Absolutely none of the artwork inside of the book is in color. Although, that does help cut down on the cost of the book, which is very much appreciated!

World History is an exceptionally difficult subject to teach and to learn not least because the events it covers are so complex and diverse. This book does an excellent job in making a complex subject accessible. Highly recommended.

Exceeded my expectations. Book was on time and in very good condition.

I found Peter Sterns' book worthwile. He seems to provides a balanced overview of World History. He neither neglects the contributions of civivlizations outside the West nor diminishes the dominating role the West has played for the last few hundred years or so.I read this to fill in the gaps in my knowledge of history and I think he gave me a background to understand more detailed accounts.

I recently decided to return to college after being away for nearly 20 years raising a family. This text was one of my first courses and I found it easy to understand, well laid-out, and concise. Generally speaking, it dealt with issues thoroughly, though I would have liked to have seen more coverage on gender issues through the ages. Early civilization was primarily patriarchal, yet women played an intricate part in the development of society through the ages. I think any student interested in learning about the origins of civilization would benefit greatly by using this text. The chapters covered topics well, but weren't excessively lengthy. The companion document book worked well with this text, preventing any confusion as to the time table involved. This book should be included as a reference or required reading for any history major. Mr. Stearns did a wonderful job covering a large span of time in simple terms and in few pages. Having a wonderful professor, along with easy-to-understand text, influenced me to add history as one of my majors--along with my major of English. I only hope my second semester in history goes as well as my first!