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World in Motion: A Dynamic History of Humankind (Volume 1: Prehistory to 1500)
Forthcoming - September 2026
"Packed with features and written in Reynolds’s and Gilbert’s signature, accessible style, World in Motion delivers on the vision of a world history that recognizes the never-ending movement of people, things, identities, and even our understanding of history. It is a startling achievement, many years in the making, and one that will speak to this generation of students."
—Trevor Getz, San Francisco State University
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World in Motion Volume 1: Prehistory to 1500
World in Motion offers a new and thought-provoking vision of world history through a focus on movement and change across various facets of human experience, including migration, trade, culture, identity, biology, and the environment.
World in Motion reconceptualizes the presentation of world history through the perspective of three key ideas:
- Everything moves: From people, to goods, to ideas, and even the environment—nothing stays still.
- Identities are in motion: People don’t only move physically and genetically; their constructions of culture and self are also in constant motion.
- History itself is in motion: Our ability to research and reconstruct the past has improved, and so our understanding of the past is in a state of constant change.
These themes are enhanced and extended in every chapter of World in Motion via such features as targeted Content Questions, Journal Prompts, informational sidebars, and numerous maps and illustrations. Free and easily accessible online supplemental materials—including primary source excerpts, supplementary readings, videos, and more—create in-depth opportunities for students to explore the book’s organizing idea of motion.
Reviews
"Packed with features and written in Reynolds’s and Gilbert’s signature, accessible style, World in Motion delivers on the vision of a world history that recognizes the never-ending movement of people, things, identities, and even our understanding of history. It is a startling achievement, many years in the making, and one that will speak to this generation of students."
—Trevor Getz, San Francisco State University
"A triumph of historical synthesis. The authors bring the dynamism of world history to life in this engagingly written text that students will love. Beyond the excellent scholarship, the empathetic approach to humanity in all its beautiful richness can only be described in one word: moving."
—Stephen Jackson, The University of Kansas
"An outstanding achievement. Comprehensive in scope, spanning prehistory to the present, the text successfully organizes a vast and diverse global past into clear, coherent thematic frameworks. Enriched by engaging illustrations and thoughtfully designed Content Questions, the authors have created a textbook that is both intellectually rigorous and uncommonly accessible for undergraduate students."
—Phillip A. Cantrell, Longwood University
Tables of Contents
Click on the links below to open PDFs of each volume's table of contents:
About the Authors
Erik Gilbert is Professor of History, Arkansas State University.
Jonathan T. Reynolds is Regents Professor of History at Northern Kentucky University.
