World Atlas of the Past

By John Haywood

The World Atlas of the Past combines over 100 newly rendered full-color maps with exquisite art and photographs and engrossing narrative to trace the history of humankind from its tentative beginnings to the present. This state-of-the-art set boasts extensive coverage of the major civilizations of Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe, which makes it a perfect fit with the global studies and world history curriculum.
Each section features a full-page regional map showing such historical events as global migration, wars, and the shift of imperial boundaries, and a highlight map that illustrates a particular aspect of politics or culture. These clear and easy-to-understand maps show how cities have developed, flourished, and declined, how geographical centers have changed, and how civilizations have interacted over time. The accompanying text captures the key historical facts of the period, while sidebars focus on art and artifacts to bring each civilization to life. A chronology within each section provides ready reference. Each volume includes a glossary of terms, suggestions for further reading, and an index.

The 4 volumes are:

Volume 1. THE ANCIENT WORLD: Earliest Times to 1 BC
Volume 2. THE MEDIEVAL WORLD: AD 1 to 1492
Volume 3. THE AGE OF DISCOVERY: 1492-1815
Volume 4. MODERN TIMES: 1815 to the Present

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195214439
• ISBN13: 9780195214437
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.4" x 12.3" x 9.8"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

Great Historical Reference

The "Atlas of Past Times" found a permanent place on my coffee table. This book is absolutely loaded with illustrative maps, photos, and text. John Haywood has done to the pictorial record of world history what Kenneth C. Davis did for American history in his "Don't Know Much About History."Time after time over the years I've heard or read about a particular civilization, war, political upheaval, or religious movement, but was unclear as to the specific timeframe and geographic scope. It's one thing to read about boundaries in text, but Haywood lays it all out in numerous maps. Each map is color-coded and loaded with useful information. The legends are clear and concise. A perfect example of how I found the book useful was in my following the war in Iraq. I didn't want to read six textbooks to gain a better understanding of the region's history. Haywood's book provides a fantastic visual overview: Mesopotamia, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Jews, the Arabs, the advance and subdivisions of Islam, the Kurds, the Turks, etc. The area has a long and convoluted history, which the maps really help place within grasp of the common man.The accompanying text is only a cursory--but well written--examination of chronological world history, which is fine; it is titled and pitched as an "Atlas," and therein lies its strength and attraction. I will refer to this book again and again. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of BIG ICE