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Some books give lots of facts and dates, others concentrate on opinion and discussion. This one does neither: little factual information, plenty of opinion, but leaning over backwards so far to avoid being controversial that you won't learn much.

Also bear in mind that this book is not designed to be read; it's a class book with "thought provoking" questions at the end of each chapter of the type "What do you think of....?". Another way for the author to stay non-committal.

Finally, it's expensive.

I've been reading and comparing a few global history texts, and this one is in another class. If you're wanting a chronological narrative treading the traditional origins, greek, egyptian, indus valley . . . pattern then this text will not please you. If you're after a well written and presented text combining a good synthesis of fact with thought provoking analysis then this IS for you! I can see perhaps why lecturers might go for other more factual texts if they want to look at the global past in different terms to this one, however I think they can't go wrong with the themes Stearns and co. explore. Its got that perfect balance of fact and analysis. The boxed features and lengthy document extracts fit in well, and the lists of sources are well worthwhile.
So yes, you WILL learn a lot from this book because instead of just providing a series of events, people, terms and dates to rote learn it will get you thinking about the themes of global history, and encourage you to compare, contrast and evaluate. Its also one of the few "World History" texts that isn't a Western Civilization history with a few extra chapters thrown in. It really looks at the whole world with a fresh view, including a variety of cultures and experiences. In the Classical era you'll recieve valuable insights into nomadic peoples, providing the opportunity to understand differing means of organising society and allowing worthwhile comparisons that actually enhance understanding the more well trodden ground of Greece, Rome etc. Other fascinating coverage in this vein includes chapters about migration and the spread of peoples (Africans, Slavs and Polynesians), a whole chapter on the Mongol empire and the independence and nationhood movements of Latin America. I reiterate that these other perspectives are introduced in a way which enhances the overall understanding of world history, and are certainly not arbitary "pc" insertions. The authors do not shirk from showing the rise of the west, and the positives and negatives of imperialism. However it also allows us to see the limitations, and non-inevitability of this rise.
If you insist on reading a solely factual survey text, Traditions and Encounters by Bentley and Ziegler will do a great job, however for any student or enthusiast of World History, this book will open your eyes to new perspectives and really encourage you to engage your braincells!

While some may at first find this book to be daughting, or even uninformative, they would be surprised to learn that what the book presents is one of the most unbiased accounts of World History. As a student who was taught AP World History, I found the book to be incredible. Along with incredibly factual passages, the book also includes primary sources to aid learning. In additon, the book is completely unbiased; spending as much time if not more on African, Asian, and Western roots as it does on Rome, Egypt, or the Greeks. Also, the book spends extraordinay amounts of time discussing ALL of the civilizations of the world, not just the cut and dry topics that were explored in the years before. Despite what the other reviewer has said, this book is the most incredible source of history I have ever read, and should be standard in schools around the country. Regarding the expense, with a source as good as this, the cost is minimal. I found the book so helpful I actually purchased my own copy after I finished the cource.

In the world of "Literature," there are two kinds of artists, those that have something to say, and say it well, and then there are those who instantaneously concoct creations of pure wasteful absurdity. This book is an example of the latter. The sentences make no sense, there is no clear plot, and there are many arrogant words used to take up space for what obviously is lacking, which is real writing. There is an attempt of this write to sound as he is "Avant-Garde" when he is anything but "Avant-Garde." This book is dry, annoying, unclear, and a waste of time. Anything that the masses CANNOT connect with, cannot grasp onto, is not genius. It has to hit the mass subconsciousness, and this does not. No wonder it is OUT OF PRINT. I believe Stephen King said it best in his Memoir of "On Writing"----- he states that one of the most important things to do in writing is to "Find the truth inside a story's web of lies, not to commit intellectual dishonesty in the hunt for the buck."

This book, if you even want to call it that, is a bunch of self-indulgent rhetoric. Don't bother unless you like to read meaningless sentences with no heart or life in them.

While hardly a masterpiece, this book is much better than the other reviewers here would have it - anybody who quotes Stephen King against this sort of book is applying the wrong kind of standards. Oblique, fractured: yes, but many of the stories find their own clipped rhythm, throwing out memorable sentence shards and effective little groups of images. But it's not for people who seek out vaguely pretentious 'literature' in order to ridicule it (don't they have better things to do? - you know, if you don't like a book, you don't have to keep reading, just drop it and go on to something else). I read it by the Lake in Central Park; maybe my image of the book is made rosier by the wonderful blue day we were having, but maybe not. Good. Three and a half points (rounded up to four to raise the average).