The Cambridge World History: Volume IV: A World with States, Empires and Networks 1200 BCE–900 CE: 04 - Softcover

From 1200 BCE to 900 CE, the world witnessed the rise of powerful new states and empires, as well as networks of cross-cultural exchange and conquest. Considering the formation and expansion of these large-scale entities, this fourth volume of the Cambridge World History series outlines key economic, political, social, cultural, and intellectual developments that occurred across the globe in this period. Leading scholars examine critical transformations in science and technology, economic systems, attitudes towards gender and family, social hierarchies, education, art, and slavery. The second part of the volume focuses on broader processes of change within western and central Eurasia, the Mediterranean, South Asia, Africa, East Asia, Europe, the Americas and Oceania, as well as offering regional studies highlighting specific topics, from trade along the Silk Roads and across the Sahara, to Chaco culture in the US southwest, to Confucianism and the state in East Asia.

Craig Benjamin is an Associate Professor of History at Frederik J. Meijer Honors College, Grand Valley State University, Michigan (GVSU). At GVSU, he teaches Big History, world history, and East and Central Asian history, to students at all levels, from first-year to postgraduate. He is a frequent guest presenter at conferences worldwide, and the author of numerous published books, chapters and essays on ancient Central Asian history, Big History, and world history. He is co-author (with David Christian and Cynthia Brown) of a Big History textbook – Big History: Between Nothing and Everything (2013). Benjamin has recorded several programs and lecture series for The History Channel, The Teaching Company and Scientific American magazine. He is also a member of the College Board Test Development Committees for both the AP and SAT World History exams; Treasurer of the International Big History Association; and President (2014/15) of the World History Association.