Modeling patterns of human migration -- Earliest human migrations, to 40,000 BP -- Peopling northern and American regions, 40,000 to 15,000 BP -- Agriculture, 15,000 BP to 5000 BP -- Commerce, 3000 BCE to 500 CE -- Modes of movement, 500 CE to 1400 CE -- Spanning the Oceans, 1400 to 1700 --...

What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to collapse into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates? Diamond weaves an all-encompassing global thesis through a series of historical-cultural narratives. Moving from the prehistoric Polynesian culture of Easter Island to the...

"Examines the history of consumption throughout the early modern period. Takes a chronological and global view to the discussion of evolving consumer practice and culture between 1500 and 1800"--Provided by publisher"--