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Book Review
| Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History. Edited by WILLIAM H. MCNEILL et al. Great Barrington, Mass.: Berkshire Publishing, 2005. 2,500 pp. $575 (cloth).
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The Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History is neither the first nor the only encyclopedic reference work on world history. Indeed, the authoritative guide to all of human history has for decades been the best-selling Encyclopedia of World History,1 and its roots date back to the late nineteenth century. Originally compiled and edited by William L. Langer, but now under the general editorship of the distinguished world historian Peter N. Stearns, this one-volume ready reference packs more than twenty thousand entries into a big book (1,243 pages). Ideas and factual details pertaining to human history are organized chronologically and grouped by geographic region. The work is particularly strong on biographical entries. Thus, for example, a quick check on Charles the Fat, also known as Charles III, Holy Roman Emperor (881–887), reveals that he "failed to aid the gallant Odo [the Marquis of Neustria and King of the West Franks] against the Northmen" and was subsequently deposed as emperor in 887 (p. 177). No such similar entries appear in the pages of the Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History, which adopts a completely different approach to chronicling the history of the world. |
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Trying to cover as broad a subject as world history in five volumes seems well-nigh impossible, but the editors and their contributors have accomplished this with grace and poise. William H. McNeill, the senior editor of the Berkshire Encyclopedia and doyen of world history in North America, candidly admits that no single approach to the writing of world history exists and likely never will. Thus, readers may look in vain for a pronunciamento on world history or for any abstract discussions of the field. Instead, readers are simply made aware that the authors are united in their commitment to discuss their subjects from "a world history perspective," meaning that at the very least they have always endeavored to show connections and interactions between their subject and others, and to document changes over time and spaces. |
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