Synopses & Reviews
Extend the human story backward for the five thousand years of recorded history and it covers no more than a millionth of a lifetime of the Earth. Yet how do we humans take stock of the history of our planet, and our own place within it? A vast historical mosaic” (Publishers Weekly) rendered engaging and accessible, Big History interweaves different disciplines of knowledge to offer an all-encompassing account of history on Earth. Since its publication, Cynthia Browns world history on a grand scale” (Kirkus) has been translated into nine languages and has helped propel the big history” concept to viral status. This new edition of Browns seminal work is more relevant today than ever before, as we increasingly must grapple with accelerating rates of change and, ultimately, the legacy we will bequeath to future generations. Here is a pathbreaking portrait of our world, from the birth of the universe from a single point the size of an atom to life on a twenty-first-century planet inhabited by 7 billion people.
Review
This exciting saga crosses space and time to illustrate how humans, born of stardust, were shaped—and how they in turn shaped the world we know today.”
—Publishers Weekly
Theres much to argue about in Browns account, and much to discover.”
—The Washington Post
Brown combines the findings of major authorities in the natural sciences and the human sciences, crisply portraying the discoveries and debates on history at the grandest scale.”
—Patrick Manning, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of World History, University of Pittsburgh
Synopsis
When it was first published to rave reviews in 2007,
Big History quickly became one of the foundational texts for a paradigm-shifting new movement: the understanding of world history from a radically expansive, interdisciplinary perspective. Praised as a “lucidly [written] vast historical mosaic” (
Publishers Weekly),
Big History interweaves disparate fields of knowledge—biology, geology, and anthropology—to offer an all-encompassing account of history on Earth. Browns narrative flows seamlessly from the birth of the universe to life on a planet inhabited by billions of people, a mind altering account of the fate of the Earth and of our role in this ongoing story.
Since its publication, Browns book has been translated into nine languages and the “big history” concept has flourished: Bill Gates is funding the development of a related big history high school curriculum; an international scholarly organization has been formed to promote teaching and research in big history; and a TED talk by historian David Christian—who lauded Brown for drawing together “the stories of the universe, the earth, and humanity . . . with intelligence, simplicity, and great elegance”—has gone viral. This new edition of Browns seminal work is sure to find an even greater audience today, as we must increasingly grapple with accelerating rates of change and, ultimately, the legacy we will bequeath to future generations.
About the Author
Cynthia Stokes Brown is a retired professor of education at Dominican University of California. She has written works of history and biography, including the American Book Award-winning Ready from Within: Septima Clark and the Civil Rights Movement, Connecting with the Past, and Refusing Racism. She lives in Berkeley, California.