Preface
Versions and Supplements 
Maps, Figures, and Tables 

The Acceleration of Global Contact

1450–1600

The Trade World of the Indian Ocean • Peoples and Cultures of Southeast Asia • Muslim Influences and African Trade • Genoese and Venetian Middlemen

Causes of European Expansion • Technology and the Rise of Exploration • The Portuguese in Africa and Asia • Spain’s Voyages to the Americas • Spain "Discovers" the Pacific • Early Exploration by Northern European Powers

Spanish Conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires • Portuguese Brazil • Colonial Administration • Economic Exploitation of the Indigenous Population • Patterns of Settlement

Population Loss and the Ecological Impacts of Contact • Sugar and Early Transatlantic Slavery • Spanish Silver and Its Economic Effects • The Birth of the Global Economy

Religious Conversion • European Debates About Indigenous Peoples • New Ideas About Race

The Islamic World Powers

1300–1800

Environmental Challenges • The Expansion of the Ottoman Empire • Land-Holding, Slavery and Imperial Administrations • The Safavid Empire in Persia • The Mughal Empire in India

Religious Legitimacy and Orthodoxy • Sufism • Non-Muslims Under Muslim Rule

The Arts • City and Palace Building • Gardens • Intellectual Advances

New Forms of Consumption • The Impact of Gunpowder • European Trade in Asia and the Islamic Powers’ Response • From the British East India Company to the British Empire in India

European Power and Expansion

1500–1750

The Protestant Reformation • The Catholic Reformation • Religious Violence

The Social Order and Peasant Life • Environmental, Economic, and Social Crisis • The Thirty Years’ War • European Achievements in State-Building

Spain • The Foundations of French Absolutism • Louis XIV and Absolutism • The Wars of Louis XIV • The Absolutist Palace • The Austrian Habsburgs

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth • The Failure of Absolutism in England • The Puritan Protectorate • Constitutional Monarchy • The Dutch Republic

The Dutch Trading Empire • Colonial Empires of England and France • Mercantilism and Colonial Wars • People Beyond Borders

Mongol Rule in Russia and the Rise of Moscow • Building the Russian Empire • Peter the Great and Russia’s Turn to the West

New Worldviews and Ways of Life

1540–1790

The Muslim Contribution • Scientific Thought to 1550 • Astronomy and Physics • Newton’s Synthesis • Natural History and Empire • Magic and Alchemy

The Methods of Science • Medicine, the Body, and Chemistry • Science and Religion • Science and Society

The Early Enlightenment • The Influence of the Philosophes • Enlightenment Movements Across Europe

Global Contacts • New Definitions of Race • Women and the Enlightenment • Enlightened Absolutism and Its Limits

Economic and Demographic Change • The Atlantic Economy • Urban Life and the Public Sphere • Culture and Community in the Atlantic World • The Atlantic Enlightenment

Africa and the World

1400–1800

The West Coast: Senegambia and Benin • The Sudan: Songhai, Kanem-Bornu, and Hausaland • Agriculture, Gender, and Marriage in West Africa • Trade and Industry

Muslim and European Incursions in Ethiopia, ca. 1500–1630 • The Swahili City-States and the Arrival of the Portuguese, ca. 1500–1600

The Institution of Slavery in Africa • The Transatlantic Slave Trade • Impact on African Societies

Continuity and Change in East Asia

1400–1800

The Rise of Zhu Yuanzhang and the Founding of the Ming Dynasty • Problems with the Imperial Institution • The Mongols and the Great Wall • The Examination Life • Everyday Life in Ming China • Ming Decline

The Rise of the Manchus • Competent and Long-Lived Emperors • Imperial Expansion

Muromachi Culture • Civil War • The Victors: Nobunaga and Hideyoshi

Tokugawa Government • Commercialization and the Growth of Towns • The Life of the People in the Edo Period

Zheng He’s Voyages • Piracy and Japan’s Overseas Adventures • Europeans Enter the Scene • Christian Missionaries • Learning from the West • The Shifting International Environment in the Eighteenth Century

Revolutions in the Atlantic World

1775–1825

Social Change • Demands for Liberty and Equality • The Seven Years’ War

The Origins of the Revolution • Independence from Britain • Framing the Constitution • Limitations of Liberty and Equality

Breakdown of the Old Order • The National Assembly • Constitutional Monarchy • The National Convention • The Directory

Napoleon’s Rule of France • Napoleon’s Expansion in Europe • The Grand Empire and Its End

Revolutionary Aspirations in Saint-Domingue • The Outbreak of Revolt • The War of Haitian Independence

The Origins of the Revolutions Against Colonial Powers • Resistance, Rebellion, and Independence • The Aftermath of Revolution in the Atlantic World

The Revolution in Energy and Industry

1760–1850

Why Britain? • Technological Innovations and Early Factories • Steam Power and the Energy Revolution • Breakthrough • Steam-Powered Transportation • Industry and Population

National and International Variations • Industrialization in Continental Europe • Agents of Industrialization • The Global Picture

Work in Early Factories • Working Families and Children • The Sexual Division of Labor • Living Standards for the Working Class • Environmental Impacts of Industrialization

The New Class of Factory Owners • Responses to Industrialization • The Early Labor Movement in Britain • The Impact of Slavery

Ideologies of Change in Europe

1815–1914

The Political and Social Situation After 1815 • Conservatism After 1815 • Liberalism and the Middle Class • The Growing Appeal of Nationalism • The Birth of Socialism

Social and Economic Conflict • Liberal Reform in Great Britain • Revolutions in France •

The Revolutions of 1848 in Central Europe

Cavour, Garibaldi, and the Unification of Italy • Bismarck and German Unification • The Modernization of Russia

Improving the Urban Environment • Social Inequality and Class • The Changing Family • Science for the Masses • Cultural Shifts

Trends in Suffrage • The German Empire • Republican France • Great Britain and the Austro-Hungarian Empire • Jewish Emancipation and Modern Anti-Semitism • The Socialist Movement

Africa, the Ottoman Empire, and the New Imperialism

1800–1914

Trade and Social Change • Islamic Revival and Expansion in Africa • The Scramble for Africa, 1880–1914 • Southern Africa in the Nineteenth Century • Colonialism’s Impact After 1900

Causes of the New Imperialism • A "Civilizing Mission" • Critics of Imperialism • African and Asian Resistance

Decline and Reform in the Ottoman Empire • Egypt: From Reform to British Occupation •

The Rise of Global Inequality • The World Market

Asia and the Pacific in the Era of Imperialism

1800–1914

The Evolution of British Rule • The Socioeconomic Effects of British Rule • The British and the Indian Educated Elite

The Dutch East Indies • Mainland Southeast Asia • The Philippines

The Opium War • Internal Problems • The Self-Strengthening Movement • Republican Revolution

The "Opening" of Japan • The Meiji Restoration • Industrialization • Japan as an Imperial Power

Settler Colonies in the Pacific: Australia and New Zealand • Asian Emigration

The Impact of Foreign Domination • Environmental and Economic Forces

The Americas in the Age of Liberalism

1810–1917

Liberalism and Caudillos in Spanish America • Mexico and the United States • Liberal Reform in Mexico • Brazil: A New World Monarchy

Slave Societies in the Americas • Independence and Abolition • Abolition in Cuba and Brazil

Latin America Re-enters the World Economy • The Porfiriato and Liberal Stability in Mexico • The Mexican Revolution

Immigration to Latin America • Immigration to the United States • Immigration to Canada • Settler Colonialism and its Impacts

U.S. Intervention in Latin America • The Spanish-American War • The Panama Canal

World War and Revolution

1914–1929

Origins and Causes of the Great War • The Outbreak of War • Stalemate and Slaughter • The War Becomes Global

Mobilizing for Total War • The Social Impact of War • Growing Political Tensions

The Fall of Imperial Russia • The Provisional Government • Lenin and the Bolshevik Revolution • Dictatorship and Civil War

The End of the War • The Paris Peace Treaties • American Rejection of the Versailles Treaty

Germany and the Western Powers • Hope in Foreign Affairs • Hope in Democratic Government

Uncertainty in Philosophy and Religion • The New Physics • Freudian Psychology • Twentieth-Century Literature • Modern Architecture, Art, and Music • Movies and Radio

Nationalism in Asia

1914–1939

Asian Reaction to the War in Europe • The Mandates System • Nationalism’s Appeal

The Arab Revolt • The Turkish Revolution • Modernization Efforts in Persia and Afghanistan • Gradual Independence in the Arab States • Arab-Jewish Tensions in Palestine

British Promises and Repression • The Roots of Militant Nonviolence • Gandhi’s Resistance Campaign in India

The Rise of Nationalist China • China’s Intellectual Revolution • From Liberalism to Ultranationalism in Japan • Japan Against China • Striving for Independence in Southeast Asia

The Great Depression and World War II

1929–1945

The Economic Crisis • Mass Unemployment • The New Deal in the United States • The European Response to the Depression • Worldwide Effects

Conservative Authoritarianism • Radical Totalitarian Dictatorships

From Lenin to Stalin • The Five-Year Plans • Life and Culture in Soviet Society • Stalinist Terror and the Great Purges

The Seizure of Power • The Regime in Action

The Roots of Nazism • Hitler’s Road to Power • The Nazi State and Society • Hitler’s Popularity • Aggression and Appeasement, 1933–1939

Hitler’s Empire in Europe, 1939–1942 • The Holocaust • Japan’s Asian Empire • The Grand Alliance • The War in Europe, 1942–1945 • The War in the Pacific, 1942–1945

Decolonization, Revolution, and the Cold War

1945–1968

The Cold War • The United Nations • The Politics of Liberation • Dependency and Development Theories • Interpreting the Postcolonial Experience

Independence in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh • Arab Socialism in the Middle East • The Arab-Israeli Conflict

The Communist Victory in China • Conflict in Korea • Japan’s American Reconstruction • The Vietnam War

The Growth of African Nationalism • Ghana Shows the Way • Countries Emerging from French Rule

Economic Nationalism in Mexico • Populism in Argentina and Brazil • Communist Revolution in Cuba

The Soviet Union Struggles to Move Beyond Stalin • Postwar Challenges in Western Europe and the United States • The World in 1968

Liberalization and Liberation

1968–2000s

The OPEC Oil Embargo • Mexico Under the PRI • Nigeria, Africa’s Giant • The Camp David Accords and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict • Revolution and War in Iran and Iraq

Civil Wars in Central America • Boom and Bust in Chile • The Dirty War in Argentina • Development and Dictatorship in Brazil

Gay Liberation • Second-Wave and Third World Feminism • Pan-Africanism, Black Power and the African Diaspora

Portuguese Decolonization and Rhodesia • South Africa Under Apartheid • Political Change in Africa Since 1990

Japan’s Economic Miracle and the Emergence of the "Asian Tigers" • China’s Economic Resurgence • Development Versus Democracy in India and Pakistan

The Limits of Reform in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe • Recasting Russia Without Communism • Integration and Reform in Europe

The Contemporary World in Historical Perspective

Al-Qaeda and Afghanistan • Conflict and Change in the Middle East • Right Wing Nationalism Re-emerges

Migration • Urbanization • Multinational Corporations

Children: The Right to Childhood • Women’s Right to Equality • LGBTQ Challenges • Environmentalism

Causes of Global Warming and Responses to It • Historical Experiences with Climate and Environmental Change • Automobility • Global Energy Reliance • Intensified Agriculture and the Green Revolution • Impacts of Climate Change

NEW! Achieve, an innovative online learning platform with robust tools. Providing activities for student engagement and analytics for instructor insight, Achieve for A History of World Societies features LearningCurve adaptive quizzing, an integrated companion source reader, an online test bank, map quizzes, tutorials with assessment, and helpful course supplements, such as images and lecture slides. Adopt Achieve on its own or package it with the print book.

New thematic emphasis on environmental history. We have added a new emphasis on the environment to the social and cultural focus, comprehensive regional organization, and global perspective that have long been its hallmarks. This threads through the entire book, from Chapter 1’s discussion of how the environment shaped human migration and settlement in the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras, to Chapter 33’s analysis of how global energy production and consumption have resulted in the climate change we experience today.

Narrative updates to incorporate the latest scholarship. Along with the addition of material on the environment and science-based evidence throughout, updates to the twelfth edition include: a revised section on human evolution (Chapter 1); a significant chapter revision, including more on the actual practices of Islam (Chapter 9); revision of the section on the Black Death to incorporate new scholarship (Chapter 14); expanded coverage of the Indian Ocean trade and new section on ideas about race (Chapter 16); more thorough discussion of the “Little Ice Age”(Chapter 18); new material on ocean fishing and whaling (Chapter 20); new section exploring human rights and liberation movements (Chapter 32).

Reversed order of Chapters 12 and 13. Our own teaching and discussion with colleagues led us to reverse the order of Chapters 12 and 13. To fit better with the more common course organization, Chapter 12 (“States and Cultures in East Asia 800–1400”) is now followed by Chapter 13 (“Cultural Exchange in Central and Southern Asia 300–1400”).