There are many stories we can tell about the past, and we are not, perhaps, as free as we might imagine in our choice of which stories to tell, or where those stories end. John Arnold's Very Short Introduction is a stimulating essay about how we study and understand history. The book begins by inviting us to think about various questions provoked by our investigation of history, and explores the ways these questions have been answered in the past.

Concepts such as causation, interpretation, a...

The Silk Road was the current name for a complex of ancient trade routes linking East Asia with Central Asia, South Asia, and the Mediterranean world. This network of exchange emerged along the borders between agricultural China and the steppe nomads during the Han Dynasty (206BCE-220CE), in consequence of the inter-dependence and the conflicts of these two distinctive societies. In their quest for horses, fragrances, and spices, gems, glassware, and other exotics from the lands to their west...

The Caribbean before Columbus is a new synthesis of the region's insular history. It combines the results of the authors' 55 years of archaeological research on almost every island in the three archipelagoes with that of their numerous colleagues and collaborators. The presentation operates on multiple scales: temporal, spatial, local, regional, environmental, social, and political.

In addition, individual sites are used to highlight specific issues. For the first time, the complete histories...

From Herodotus to H-Net: The Story of Historiography, Second Edition, offers a concise but comprehensive and up-to-date account of the many ways history has been studied and recounted, from the ancient world to the new universe of the Internet. Clearly written and organized, it shows how the same issues that historians debate today were already recognized in past centuries, and how the efforts of historians in the past remain relevant today.

Balanced and fair-minded, the book covers the devel...