Tracing the development of different civilizations through the ages, J.M. Roberts' now classic history has been updated.

"The fifth revised edition was published in Great Britain as The new Penguin history of the world by Penguin Press/Allen Lane, 2012"--Title page verso.

The foundations -- Homo sapiens -- The possibility of civilization -- Early civilized life -- Ancient Mesopotamia -- Ancient Egypt -- Intruders and invaders -- The beginnings of civilization in South Asia -- Ancient China -- The other worlds of the ancient past -- Transformations -- Remaking the old world -- The Greeks -- The Hellenistic world -- Rome -- Christianity and the western transition -- Classical India -- Classical China -- The central Eurasian crossroads -- Islam and the Arab empires -- Byzantium and its sphere -- The new Middle East and the making of Europe -- India -- Imperial China -- Japan -- Worlds apart -- Europe: the possibility of change -- New limits, new horizons -- Qing China and Mughal India -- A new kind of society: early modern Europe -- Authority and its challengers in Europe -- The new world of great powers -- Europe's assault on the world -- World history's new shape -- Ideas old and new -- Long-term change -- Political change in an age of revolution -- Political change: a new Europe -- Political change: the Anglo-Saxon world -- The European world hegemony -- Imperialism and imperial rule -- Asian metamorphoses -- Strains in the system -- The era of the First World War -- The making of a new Asia -- The Ottoman heritage and the western Islamic lands -- The Second World War -- Decolonization and cold war -- Revolutions in science and perceptions -- The cold war world -- Crises and détente -- The closing of an era -- Openings and closures -- Whole world history.