Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents: Transformation: Commerce and change in Asia, Europe and Africa, 750-1500 -- Commerce and change: The Creation of a global economy and the expansion of Europe -- Traditions and their transformations -- Boundaries, encounters and frontiers -- Crucible of change: Landscapes, material culture and social life after 1500 -- Balance: Dual revolutions: Capitalist industrialism and the nation state -- The Tentacles of empire: The New imperialism and nationalisms in Asia, Africa and the Americas -- Culture, power and perspective: War and peace in the twentieth century -- Resistance, revolution and new global order -- The Crossroads of history: culture, identity and global community.