World History has rapidly grown to become one of the most popular and talked about approaches to the study of history. World History: The Basics introduces this fast-growing field and addresses key questions such as: What is world history? How do we study a subject with such a broad geographic and chronological range? Why has world history been controversial? Written by one of the founders of the field and addressing all of the major issues including time, place, civilizations, contact, themes and more, this book is both an ideal introduction to world history and an important statement about the past, present and future of the field.