John Darwin (1) (1948–)

A wonderful and pleasingly balanced take on the trajectories of world history since the XV century. I am positively impressed with the amount of space he dedicates to non-European states and affairs, making your understanding of global and regional history far more deeper and coherent. Not for nothing the book was a winner of the History Book of the Year. You may however be unimpressed with the lack of "one single reason" explanations for the rise and fall of empires and civilizations. This guy is not after simple answers and sensationalism.… (altro)

Series of articles on Global History, published in 2016, but going back to a conference held in Oxford, UK, in 2012. This certainly was an improvement on A.G. Hopkins, Globalization in World History, and Kenneth R. Curtis. Architects of World History, both works I read about a month ago. Excellent introductory and concluding article, whilst the other contributions focus on specific items, each time cross-boundaries (a remarkable one is on the history of the trade and the use of incense). The editors accentuate the need of working with a comparative and connected focus, but in the contributions connectedness is rather neglected. Another weakness of this book is that the authors are almost all male, and European/American. More in my historical account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2581107459… (altro)