William H. McNeill Books
McNeill is an American environmental historian and professor at Georgetown University, known for his work on global environmental history. McNeill (1917–2016) was a Canadian-American historian and professor at the University of Chicago, celebrated for his influential works on world history, including 'The Rise of the West'.
Known for: The Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View of World History
Books by William H. McNeill
The Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View of World History
The Human Web offers a sweeping narrative of world history through the lens of human interconnection. The McNeills trace how webs of communication, trade, and cultural exchange have shaped civilizations from prehistoric times to the modern globalized world. The book emphasizes the growing complexity and density of these networks, showing how they have driven technological, social, and political change across millennia.
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The Earliest Webs
Humanity’s earliest webs were personal and immediate. Long before cities or kingdoms, humans lived in small, kin-based bands, their connections limited to what could be maintained through memory and face-to-face contact. These miniature webs were fragile yet essential. They allowed for the transmiss...
From The Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View of World History
Agricultural Revolutions and Expanding Connections
Around 10,000 years ago, the invention of agriculture transformed both human life and the structure of the human web. When people began to cultivate plants and domesticate animals, they settled into villages. What had once been a loose net of nomadic bands now became denser and more stable threads o...
From The Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View of World History
About William H. McNeill
McNeill is an American environmental historian and professor at Georgetown University, known for his work on global environmental history. McNeill (1917–2016) was a Canadian-American historian and professor at the University of Chicago, celebrated for his influential works on world history, includi...
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McNeill is an American environmental historian and professor at Georgetown University, known for his work on global environmental history. McNeill (1917–2016) was a Canadian-American historian and professor at the University of Chicago, celebrated for his influential works on world history, includi...
McNeill is an American environmental historian and professor at Georgetown University, known for his work on global environmental history. McNeill (1917–2016) was a Canadian-American historian and professor at the University of Chicago, celebrated for his influential works on world history, including 'The Rise of the West'.
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McNeill is an American environmental historian and professor at Georgetown University, known for his work on global environmental history. McNeill (1917–2016) was a Canadian-American historian and professor at the University of Chicago, celebrated for his influential works on world history, including 'The Rise of the West'.
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