Peter N. Stearns, World History: the basics, Routledge, 2011, paperback, 202 pp, £11.99, ISBN 9780415582759

This pocket-sized introduction to world history is part of a series of basic introductions to a wide range of subjects ranging from acting to world music. The cover blurb declaring the novelty of the approach asserts that ‘world history has rapidly grown to become one of the most popular and talked about approaches to the study of history', particularly in the USA, and describes the author of the book as ‘one of the founders of the field'. It is perhaps best categorised as a blend of manifesto and manual addressing three fundamental questions, namely: What is world history? How do we study a subject with such a broad geographic and chronological base and why has world history been controversial?

In answering these questions Professor Stearns explains that ‘the basic reason to study world history' derives from ‘the historical context of the globalized society we live in today' and so world history is a response to the need to show within increasingly diverse communities ‘how world relationships have emerged and how different cultural and political traditions have formed and interacted'. It is both epistemologically controversial and challenging in its goal ‘of providing the mixture of facts, skills and analyses that meet the demanding criterion of using the past to explain the global present'. Hence a brief website review precludes engaging in any depth with the issues raised and the interested reader who is inspired by these goals is encouraged to study the book and engage with the issues themselves.