The World: 1400-Present
I’m new to world history
MIT’s open course introduces world history from 1400 to the present and has no prerequisite.
Start with: The World: 1400-Present
RedLectern topic
World History
Survey human societies and connections across regions, from early history to the modern era, with an emphasis on evidence and interpretation.
For: Learners at any starting point
After this page you can: Build a cross-regional timeline and support one historical interpretation with evidence.
Page reviewed
Part of: History
About World History
World history studies human societies across regions and eras, including their political, economic, and cultural development. It follows connections among communities as well as changes within them, using timelines and geography to put events in context.
Historians interpret evidence from primary and secondary sources, including texts, images, objects, and other records. A useful starting method is to identify a source’s creator, audience, purpose, and context, then compare its evidence with other accounts.
Start here
Developing a Global Perspective
I want a broad review
OpenStax’s free world history text uses a chronological approach and includes maps, firsthand accounts, and material from early to modern history.
Start with: Developing a Global Perspective
Teacher's Guides and Analysis Tool
I have a source to analyze
The Library of Congress offers a student tool for examining primary sources and recording responses.
Start with: Teacher's Guides and Analysis Tool
Learn the foundations
1.Read sources and build an interpretationHistorical interpretations draw on different kinds of source material, and careful analysis considers a source’s creator, audience, intent, and context.
Historical interpretations draw on different kinds of source material, and careful analysis considers a source’s creator, audience, intent, and context.
- Teacher's Guides and Analysis Tool
Use its prompts to structure an observation and follow-up questions.
Primary source
A document, object, or other source material from the period under study.
Secondary source
A source created after the period under study.
Try it
Open the OpenStax source section. Name one example it gives of a primary source for ancient Egypt.
It gives a statue of a pharaoh as a primary source for ancient Egypt.
2.Connect time, place, and contextA chronological approach follows events from ancient to modern times, while maps can help frame cultures in geographic and historical context.
A chronological approach follows events from ancient to modern times, while maps can help frame cultures in geographic and historical context.
- The World: 1400-Present
Explore the syllabus topics on reading maps and world history.
Chronological approach
An approach to history that follows a timeline from ancient to modern.
Historical context
The surrounding events and circumstances that help explain a source or event.
Try it
Choose one event from a timeline. Write down its region and one nearby event or condition that could help explain it.
For example, a learner could place an event on a timeline, locate its region on a map, and identify a related event as context.
3.Study states and societiesWorld history can examine political systems alongside the relationships among communities, religious systems, and social groups.
World history can examine political systems alongside the relationships among communities, religious systems, and social groups.
- China, 500–1000 A.D.
Compare the chronology and overview as you trace changes in rule and society.
Vassal state
A state or kingdom that manages its internal affairs but submits to a dominating empire and usually provides tribute.
Historiography
The study of how historians have interpreted and written about the past.
Try it
Use the Met chronology to identify one change in political rule in China and one kind of evidence the page uses.
The page describes China’s reunification under the Sui and Tang dynasties and discusses art and literature as evidence of cultural life.
4.Follow trade and migrationTrade and migration linked societies across Asia, while Indian Ocean routes connected East Africa with Asia and the Middle East.
Trade and migration linked societies across Asia, while Indian Ocean routes connected East Africa with Asia and the Middle East.
- Ancient Asia
Compare the examples of movement and exchange across land and sea.
Trade network
Connected routes through which goods move among regions.
Migration
Movement of people from one place to another.
Try it
From the Met page, name two places linked by trade and one good exchanged.
The page describes East Africa as linked to Asia and the Middle East, and says gold was exchanged at the coast for goods including silks and ceramics.
5.Trace industrial and social changeEconomic history examines long-term processes such as industrialization and demographic change, and the Industrial Revolution involved a shift toward manufactu…
Economic history examines long-term processes such as industrialization and demographic change, and the Industrial Revolution involved a shift toward manufacturing with machines.
- Industrialization, Labor and Life
Use its glossary and account of changing work and society.
Industrialization
Growth of machine production and factories.
Industrial Revolution
A transition from agriculture and handicraft production toward manufacturing, primarily with machines.
Try it
Using the National Geographic glossary, explain industrialization in one sentence and name one related social change from the article.
Industrialization is the growth of machine production and factories; the article describes workers moving from agricultural work to manufacturing jobs.
Latest
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Books
- The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community
The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community
William H. McNeill · 1991
McNeill frames change through cross-cultural interaction. Read alongside criticism that the book’s concluding frame gives the West an outsized role.
- The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy
The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy
Kenneth Pomeranz · 2000
Pomeranz’s comparison asks why England’s economy developed differently from the Yangzi Delta’s, keeping explanations comparative across regions.
- The Human Web: A Bird's-Eye View of World History
The Human Web: A Bird's-Eye View of World History
J. R. McNeill and William H. McNeill · 2003
Its network model links trade, migration, communication, and conflict across regions. A College Board sample syllabus includes it among world-history readings.
- Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Jared Diamond · 1999
The Pulitzer page presents Diamond’s account as a history of how modern inequalities came to be. A sample AP World History syllabus also assigns selected chapters.
- The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
Peter Frankopan · 2016
The book reorients its account toward Eurasian networks. The Guardian review also notes gaps in its coverage, making it a useful interpretive lens alongside broader surveys.
Every free World History course and book on RedLectern
Free World History online courses
- Asia in the Modern World: Images & RepresentationsMIT 21G.027 · Browse materials · Video
- Dynastic ChinaMIT 21H.151 · Browse materials · Video
- Introduction to the History and Theory of ArchitectureMIT 4.605 · Browse materials
- Making the Modern World: The Industrial Revolution in Global PerspectiveMIT STS.025J · Browse materials
- The World: 1400-PresentMIT 21H.009 · Browse materials
- Women and War in the 20th CenturyMIT 21H.381J · Browse materials
How these courses are chosen
Of the courses with “world history” in their title or in a topic tag, these are listed as World History courses:
- those whose title contains “world”, or
- those tagged “World History” as one of at most 2 topic tags, or as the first of 3.
Free World History textbooks and books
- Helen Louise Cowie · Read at www.taylorfrancis.com ↗
- Masayuki Yamauchi · Read at link.springer.com ↗
- Tom Williford Dan Allosso · Read at mlpp.pressbooks.pub ↗
- Matilda Baraibar · Read at www.taylorfrancis.com ↗
- Guest Hollow · Read at guesthollow.com ↗
- Elizabeth A. Milliken · Read at mhcc.pressbooks.pub ↗
- Constanze Weise John Rankin · Read at dc.etsu.edu ↗
- editor Scott Rausch · Read at openwa.pressbooks.pub ↗
Show all 11 booksShow fewer books
- OpenStax (multiple contributing authors) · Read at openstax.org ↗
- OpenStax (multiple contributing authors) · Read at openstax.org ↗
- Eugene Berger · Read at human.libretexts.org ↗