Engaging features help students learn how to analyze change and continuity Visualizing the Past features support visual literacy by showing students how to read and analyze maps, charts, graphs, tables, and photos. Thinking Historically essays discuss key topics that extend across chronological and geographical boundaries. Accompanying critical thinking questions prompt readers to consider the far-reachingimplications of historical developments. Global Connections sections reinforce the key themes and issues raised in the chapter, emphasizing their importance to both the areas discussed in the chapter and the world as a whole. Critical thinking questions at the end of each chapter and part reinforce important topics and themes and serve as potential essay or class discussion topics. Reader-focused tools guide students through the material UPDATED - Part introductions discuss the conditions that set the stage for the developments during each historical period, identify the characteristics of the period, and recap the continuities that exist from one period to the next. Two world maps provide a graphic reference for the major changes of the period. Part timelines list the major events of the period.

An essay at the end of each part revisits the dominant cross-civilizational (or cross-regional) contacts and divisions that occurred during the era under examination, encouraging students to analyze the impact of key contact patterns during the period upon individual societies. Chapter-opening stories describe a particular pattern, individual, or incident to spark students'' interest, introducing chapter material in an engaging, dramatic way. Timelines in each chapter orient students to the period, countries, and key events covered in the chapter. Learning objectives, at the beginning of each chapter and accompanying each of the main headings, preview the important concepts students will encounter in the chapter. UPDATED - Excerpts from selected original documents put students in contact with diverse voices of the past, reinforcing the authors'' commitment to social history involving women, the non-elite, and experiences and events outside the spheres of politics and high culture. Accompanying questions encourage interpretive reflections and analysis. UPDATED - Each chapter includes suggested further readings, including source materials, standards in the field, encyclopedia coverage, and general interest titles. A comprehensive glossary, including conceptual terms, frequently used foreign terms, and names of important regions and individuals, helps students develop a global vocabulary.

Key terms are also defined in the margins of the chapter where the term first appears. Updated content helps students connect present to past UPDATED - World Civilizations: The Global Experience has been revised to reflect the latest developments in historical research. Highlights of new and updated content include the following: Coverage of new discoveries about human origins and interactions, including the use of animals, in Chapter 1 An updated comparison of the Roman and Chinese empires, expanded coverage of Rome''s development, and new coverage of Rome''s environmental impact in Chapter 7 A new explanation of the Mayan system of assigning dates to events in Chapter 8 An expanded section on the spread of world religions in Chapter 10 Expanded coverage of the fifteenth century as a transition, revised coverage of critical themes of the Italian Renaissance, and new coverage of the impact of the Mongol era in Chapter 20 Expanded sections on slaves and sugar plantations, new coverage of Africans in the Americas and African actions in the era of emancipation, and updated data on the African slave trade in Chapter 24 More information on technology and militaries and further emphasis on the role of soldiers that Europeans recruited in colonies from Vietnam to India in Chapter 29 Expanded coverage of leadership in Cuba and Brazil and female leadership in Latin America in Chapter 37 Expanded coverage of environmental factors and the impact of massive population increase and migration to urban centers in Chapter 38 Extensive revisions to reflect recent developments such as the rise of populism and authoritarianism, tensions around globalization, and further environmental change in Chapter 40.