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World in Motion: A Dynamic History of Humankind (Volume 2: 1500 to the Present)
Forthcoming - September 2026
"An excellent overview of a wide range of significant developments in technology, cultural practices, the environment, the global economy, and political power. Chapters are clearly organized and touch on such engaging topics as culinary and music history. Instructors and students alike will appreciate the many stimulating questions scattered through the volume, which guide readers to think more deeply about how our world has evolved since 1500."
—Kristin Stapleton, University at Buffalo
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World In Motion Vol 2 group
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
"An excellent overview of a wide range of significant developments in technology, cultural practices, the environment, the global economy, and political power. Chapters are clearly organized and touch on such engaging topics as culinary and music history. Instructors and students alike will appreciate the many stimulating questions scattered through the volume, which guide readers to think more deeply about how our world has evolved since 1500."
—Kristin Stapleton, University at Buffalo
"World in Motion tells the story of ‘How did we get here?’ with a wry sense of humor of which Mark Twain would be proud. It is an eminently teachable, highly readable source and text for a course in world history."
—Andrew Barnes, Arizona State University
"Offered at nearly half the cost of other world history textbooks, World in Motion does not compromise on plentiful, compelling images or on learning tools . . . embedded in every chapter. Students and instructors alike will appreciate the lively and accessible prose, unusual images, and brief primary sources followed by subtly complex questions. I had to do a double take on each of these—they grab the reader’s attention, making it hard to ignore the riches of world history, making it hard to resist the impulse to dig deeper. Which is exactly what world history texts are for."
—Tracey Rizzo, University of North Carolina Asheville
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.
