The Cambridge World History
The Cambridge World History is a seven volume history of the world in nine books published by Cambridge University Press in 2015. The editor in chief is Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks. The history takes a comparativist approach. Approach. Speaking in 2013, the editor of volume three, Norman Yoffee, described the history as being "conceived by a group of world historians, that is people who insist that large indeed global relations are essential in understanding local histories, and they are dedicated comparativists." Organisation. Each volume is organised as a series of essays with accompanying photographs, illustrations, diagrams  and maps. The separate volumes take a thematic and chronologically overlapping approach. The first volume discusses the period before the invention of writing including the Paleolithic era to 10,000 BCE. The second discusses the development of agriculture and the period 12,000 BCE to 500 CE. Later volumes cover progressively shorter but still overlapping periods. Volumes and editors. The work is in seven volumes over nine books, volumes 6 and 7 being published in two parts each.