This is the third volume in the History of Humanity series, covering a time period from 700 BCE to 700 CE with a truly global geographical span. It is primarily a reference work, but it can well be read from cover to cover also by those who have a serious interest in world history.

History of Humanity is superior to standard accounts of world history because it gives just as much space to peripheral regions as to classical civilizations. You can easily find better (and much more detailed) accounts of ancient Greece, Rome, India and China in standard works on world history. But I don't know any other work which, side by side with the classical cultures, includes extensive contributions on peripheral topics such as the Arabian peninsula before Islam (ch 9), the nomadic cultures of central Asia (ch 23) or the formation of the classical Andean world (ch 30.1). As these examples illustrate, in History of Humanity world history extends far beyond the borders of the familiar "high" civilizations.

The quality of contributions in History of Humanity is high and the editors have formed a very readable collection. For persons interested in studying human history from the broadest possible perspective, this collection is therefore likely to be the best available source for the coming 20-30 years until we can, hopefully, expect a new and updated edition.