Learning World History

A while back a friend of mine asked for a list of book recommendations regarding world history. He felt that his high school classes had basically only covered American history to any degree, and wanted to learn more about the history of the world. So I assembled a list to act as a jumping off point for him. (This list assumes you're American and most familiar with American history, of course- but it's not like histories of America aren't easy to find.) A couple of these works have shown up in some of my other posts.

Also, I do consider this list just a starting point- the bare minimum for what you should read to start to get a handle on world history.

Great Civilizations
India: A History, by John Keay
This is the single best history of India in existence. John Keay is notable for making sure to spend an equal amount of time on each era of his subject matter's history, rather than spending half the book or more on the twentieth century like most histories do. This is a hefty tome, but well worth the time spent.

China: A History, by John Keay
Almost as good as India: A History. These are going to be the two of the most rewarding volumes on this list. It's astonishing that Keay managed to pull off two histories this impressive- India and China are VERY different beasts, both with ridiculous histories. There's a reason Keay is my favorite historian.

1491, by Charles C. Mann
An overview of pre-Columbian American civilization, which was much larger and better developed than is generally taught in school. It also explores what made it so vulnerable to the Europeans and, more importantly, European disease.

A Concise History of the Middle East, by Arthur Goldschmidt Jr.
This one's okay, nothing too fancy. It's just a decent college-level textbook on the region. It has a little bit of ancient history, but really focuses on the birth of Islam and later. Make sure to get the most recent edition.

The Fortunes of Africa, by Martin Meridith
Fantastic, albeit depressing. Many histories of Africa are merely histories of sub-Saharan Africa, whereas this one includes all of geographic Africa. (North Africa is usually covered by histories of the Middle East.) It also starts with ancient Egypt, rather than stretching all the way back to prehistory like many other histories of Africa.

Japan: Its History and Culture, by W. Scott Morton and J. Kenneth Olenik
Pretty short, does a tolerable job. Read after China, A History, since China was far and away the dominant power in East Asia for most of history.

A History of Korea, by Kyung Moon Hwang
Same thing as the Japan book.

Europe: A History, by Norman Davies
This was the best of the surveys of European history I've found. I considered doing multiple separate histories of Europe, but, frankly, it's not necessary. Europe, especially Northern Europe, was a backwater throughout most of its history up to the Age of Sail, excepting the Roman Empire and Alexander the Great. If you're really interested in the specific history of a country, that's easy enough to read up on. The entire population of Europe could have been absorbed by China or India without much notice- at the height of the Roman Empire, Rome had over a million people. At the same time, China had over thirty cities with over a million people. Of course, after the Age of Sail began, Europe became far and away the most important region- but its activities around the globe are best read about in histories of the regions it interacted with.

Global Interactions
The Spice Route, by John Keay
More John Keay. The spice trade was a massive endeavor spanning three continents and Oceania. So much of history can be understood as part of it- hell, the colonization of the Americas was largely driven by the need for more silver and gold to pay India and China for spices and other luxury goods. Not too thick of a volume.

The Sea and Civilization, by Lincoln Paine
A naval and maritime history of the world. Huge, dense, and pretty cool.

The Paper Trail, by Alexander Monro
A history of the world's most important invention, paper. I thought about including this one under the oddball category, but it rightfully goes here- so much of this book discusses the transmission of ideas around the world.

Physical/ Environmental Histories

Dirt: The Erosion of Civilization, by David Montgomery
Dirt is literally our single most important resource other than water, and so many civilizations have collapsed due to our mismanagement of it. Italy, for instance, still can't grow much in the way of crops due to the Roman Empire's soil mismanagement, and the Fertile Crescent is mostly a wasteland thanks to Sumerian soil mismanagement.

An Environmental History of the World, by J. Donald Hughes
Pretty straightforward environmental history of the world. Not too long.

Collapse, by Jared Diamond
It's Jared Diamond. You know what you're getting with him, love it or hate it. In this one he talks about why civilizations fail. His book Guns, Germs, and Steel is also worth checking out.

The Great Transition, by Bruce Campbell
Covers the 1300s in Europe, the most metal of centuries. (The Black Death and The Great Famine). This book isn't too long, but it is freaking dense. Lots of detailed grain yield charts, maps of disease spread, etc, etc. This is the shit only other historians read- it offers very little in the way of concession for the layman. (No lube at all.) Very much worth the read, though- this was one of the crux points upon which all of history lies.

Historical Philosophy

A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History
Examines 1000 years of European history through the lenses of geology, biology, economics, and linguistics. Fun stuff. Lots of heavy similarities to Foucault's The Order of Things.

Oddball but fun histories

Debt: The First 5000 Years, by David Graeber.
Economic global history of debt. Much more of an enthralling read than you'd suspect.

Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle, by Stephen Jay Gould
History of the geological conception of time and its religious and scientific origins. Pretty short.

Consider the Fork, by Bee Wilson.
History of dining utensils and cooking instruments around the world. Quick and light read, pretty interesting- plus, what's more important than food? Almost nothing.

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Disagree with any of my choices, or have any recommendations for the list? Let me know in the comments!