Written in a lively, engaging style, this reference vividly recreates and analyses pivotal encounters, exchanges, and conflicts between cultures and civilisations that profoundly influenced the course of human history. It covers all regions of the globe -- Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, and the Pacific -- and all time periods -- from the early trade networks of the Fertile Crescent in 10,000 B.C.E. to the spread of monotheism in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, through Columbus's arrival in the Americas in 1492, up to the expansion of the World Wide Web.

Each article details one encounter, highlighting the historical background of the civilisations or cultures involved, describing the exchange, and analysing its social, political, economic, and cultural significance. Each entry includes a timeline; a map; primary source documents related to the exchange; a sidebar summarising the proliferation of goods, practices, and ideas; bibliographic citations; black-and- white and four-colour illustrations; and cross-references. Other features include a general introduction, glossary, and special indexes in each volume.

Special Features....
734 pages.
Four volumes
black-and-white and full-color illustrations
maps
timelines
glossary
bibliography
multiple indexes in each volume