Below I’ll give you my selections for the best World History books by a few categories. I will cover these and other great books more in depth later.
- Everything You Need to Ace World History in One Big Fat Notebook: The Complete Middle School Study Guide (Big Fat Notebooks) (2016)
- Forging the Modern World: A History (2018)
- AP World History: An Essential Coursebook, 4th ed (2018)
- A People’s History of the World: From the Stone Age to the New Millennium (2017)
- The Student’s Friend Concise World History: Parts 1 and 2 (2018)
- World History in Documents: A Comparative Reader (2008)
- Cracking the AP World History: Modern Exam 2020, Premium Edition: 5 Practice Tests + Complete Content Review + Proven Prep for the NEW 2020 Exam (College Test Preparation) (2019)
- A Little History of the World (Little Histories) (2008)
- A History of the World in 100 Objects (2013)
- Inquiry-Based Lessons in World History (Vol. 1): Early Humans to Global Expansion (2019)
- AP World History: With Online Tests (Barron’s Test Prep) (2018)
- Advanced Placement World History: Modern (2019)
- The Silk Roads: A New History of the World (2017)
Everything You Need to Ace World History in One Big Fat Notebook: The Complete Middle School Study Guide (Big Fat Notebooks) (2016)
It’s the revolutionary world history study guide just for middle school students from the brains behind Brain Quest. Everything You Need to Ace World History . . .
Forging the Modern World: A History (2018)
In Forging the Modern World: A History, Second Edition, authors James Carter and Richard Warren offer an accessible explanation of key transformations in global economic, political, and ideological relationships since the sixteenth century.
AP World History: An Essential Coursebook, 4th ed (2018)
The 4th edition is fully updated to address the new AP World History curriculum effective for the school year 2017-2018. What is AP World History: An Essential Coursebook? The Coursebook is more concise than most AP World History textbooks. The Coursebook is more comprehensive than most AP review books.
A People’s History of the World: From the Stone Age to the New Millennium (2017)
In this monumental book, Chris Harman achieves the impossible—a gripping history of the planet from the perspective of struggling peoples throughout the ages. From the earliest human societies to the Holy Roman Empire, from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, from the Industrial Revolution to the end of the twentieth century, Chris Harman provides a brilliant and comprehensive history of the human race.
The Student’s Friend Concise World History: Parts 1 and 2 (2018)
UNLIKE TRADITIONAL TEXTBOOKS that can overwhelm the reader with countless facts to absorb, the Student’s Friend Concise World History highlights the most important developments of world history in a clear and concise manner that is capable of being comprehended by the human mind.
World History in Documents: A Comparative Reader (2008)
While world history materials date back to prehistoric times, the field itself is relatively young.
Cracking the AP World History: Modern Exam 2020, Premium Edition: 5 Practice Tests + Complete Content Review + Proven Prep for the NEW 2020 Exam (College Test Preparation) (2019)
Ace the AP World History: Modern Exam with this Premium version of The Princeton Review’s comprehensive study guide.
A Little History of the World (Little Histories) (2008)
E. H. Gombrich’s bestselling history of the world for young readers tells the story of mankind from the Stone Age to the atomic bomb, focusing not on small detail but on the sweep of human experience, the extent of human achievement, and the depth of its frailty. The product of a generous and humane sensibility, this timeless account makes intelligible the full span of human history. In forty concise chapters, Gombrich tells the story of man from the stone age to the atomic bomb.
A History of the World in 100 Objects (2013)
When did people first start to wear jewelry or play music? When were cows domesticated, and why do we feed their milk to our children? Where were the first cities, and what made them succeed? Who developed math–or invented money? The history of humanity is one of invention and innovation, as we have continually created new things to use, to admire, or leave our mark on the world.
Inquiry-Based Lessons in World History (Vol. 1): Early Humans to Global Expansion (2019)
Spanning the time period from 15,000 BCE to 1500 CE, Inquiry-Based Lessons in World History (Vol. 1) focuses on creating global connections between people and places using primary sources in standards-based lessons.
AP World History: With Online Tests (Barron’s Test Prep) (2018)
This edition includes:
Advanced Placement World History: Modern (2019)
2020 Student Edition
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World (2017)
Far more than a history of the Silk Roads, this book is truly a revelatory new history of the world, promising to destabilize notions of where we come from and where we are headed next. From the Middle East and its political instability to China and its economic rise, the vast region stretching eastward from the Balkans across the steppe and South Asia has been thrust into the global spotlight in recent years.
Best World History Books You Should Enjoy
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some world history books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
The Hutchinson Dictionary of World History
Author(s): Helicon
ID: 2319363, Publisher: NetLibrary, Incorporated, Year: Jan. 2004, Size: 12 Mb, Format: pdf
Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World
Author(s): Mark Pendergrast
ID: 2392179, Publisher: Basic Books, Year: 9 July 2019, Size: 30 Mb, Format: epub
Education In World History
Author(s): Mark S. Johnson, Peter N. Stearns
ID: 3312963, Publisher: Routledge, Year: 2023, Size: 2 Mb, Format: pdf
Please note that this booklist is not errorless. Some books are absolutely best-sellers according to The Wall Street Journal, others are drafted by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant resources you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.