The Cambridge World History

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.

"[1] 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.

Later volumes cover progressively shorter but still overlapping periods.