World History in Brief: Major Patterns of Change and Continuity, to 1450

With its brief, global (rather than West-centered) approach, World History in Brief, Seventh Edition, shows how different civilizations developed in a global context.

Rather than overwhelm students with minutia, the primary goal of World History in Brief is to present the big picture by highlighting the major developments in world history. The text emphasizes the global interactions among major civilizations, enabling students to compare and assess changes in the patterns of interaction and the impact of global forces, such as migration and technological exchange. The compact size of this text allows instructors to take advantage of supplementary readings in their courses.

Peter N. Stearns is Provost and Professor of History at George Mason University. He has taught previously at Harvard, the University of Chicago, Rutgers, and Carnegie Mellon; he was educated at Harvard University. He has published widely in modern social history, including the history of emotions, and in world history. Representative works in world history include World History: A Survey, The Industrial Revolution in World History, Gender in World History, Consumerism in

World History, and Growing Up: The History of Childhood in Global Context. His publications in social history include Old Age in Preindustrial Society, Anxious Parents: A History of Modern American Childrearing, American Cool: Developing the Twentieth-Century Emotional Style, Fat History: Bodies and Beauty in Western Society, American Fear: The Causes and Consequences of High Anxiety, Revolutions in Sorrow: A History of American Experiences and Policies Toward Death in Global Context, From Alienation to Addiction: Modern American Work in Global Historical Perspective, and Educating Global Citizens in Colleges and Universities: Challenges and Opportunities. While under Dr. Stearns’s leadership, George Mason University was awarded the 2006 Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education. He has also edited encyclopedias of world and social history, and since 1967 has served as editor-in-chief of The Journal of Social History.

In most of his research and writing, Dr. Stearns pursues three main goals. As a social historian he is eager to explore aspects of the human experience that are not generally thought of in historical terms, and with attention to ordinary people as well as elites. Second, he seeks to use an understanding of historical change and continuity to explore patterns of behavior and social issues. Finally he is concerned with connecting new historical research with wider audiences, including of course classrooms. Dr. Stearns is also eager to promote comparative analysis and the assessment of modern global forces—for their own sake and as they illuminate the American experience and impact.