World Made Easy: A Reading List

Posted on by Kathleen

All of these recommendations are for books I couldn’t put down because I was learning so much. But I may not have known this, if they weren’t well written. I also selected books covering countries and regions whose history has influenced so much of our world today. 

My book, A Brief History of International Relations: The World Made Easy, is also available.

Every week there are puzzling reports of events involving China, Russia, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. They may not seem so baffling if media reports explained that the events are all part of an ongoing competition for global supremacy. This book’s objective is to make the world seem less perplexing by delivering essential context that facilitates connecting and grasping global events. Contextualization focuses on three areas: (1) the competition for global supremacy (1453–1945), (2) the 20th-century transition from giant empires to 193 nation-states, and (3) a shortage of qualified national leaders.

More information here.

  • The Fate of Africa: A History of the Continent Since Independence
    Author: Martin Meredith
  • A Concise History of the Arabs
    Author: John McHugo
  • A Concise History of Sunnis and Shi’is
    Author: John McHugo
  • The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
    Author: Peter Frankopan
  • Midnight’s Descendants: A History of South Asia since Partition
    Author: John Keay
  • China’s Last Empire: The Great Qing
    Author: William Rowe
  • The Troubled Empire: China in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties
    Author: Timothy Brook
  • Russia: People and Empire, 1552-1917
    Author: Geoffrey Hosking
  • Gangster Warlords
    Author: Ioan Grillo
  • From Dessalines to Duvalier: Race, Colour and National Independence in Haiti
    Author: David Nicholls

Each of these books is available via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, your favorite book store or local library. Get them for yourself or give the gift of knowledge.

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