''Asimov's Chronology of the World'' is a 1991 book by

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

, in which the author explains in chronological order important events that happened from the

Big Bang The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including th ...

until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Each chapter covers a certain time period. The chapter is then broken down into headings for each important empire or country of the time and describes the events that happened there during that chapter's time period.

Writing and content

The book is mostly a literary and comprehensive summary on historic people, events, and their connection and influence in historical and geographical context. It includes scientific, literary and artistic milestones as well as political and military events. Unlike most history books it gives insights rather than account of facts. The length and detail vary wildly, depending on the time and location described: it is more detailed in recent times, and when dealing with the Western world. A substantial part of the book is dedicated to prehistory. The rest of the book is mostly European centric and most accurate in this regard. The book does have a lot of historical accounts on other parts of the world, but it is not as complete in scope or detail.

Publication data

*''Asimov's Chronology of the World: The History of the World From the Big Bang to Modern Times'', Harper Collins Publishers, 1991, .

Abridgement

An abridged version of the book appeared under the title ''The March of the Millennia'' (

Walker and Company Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...

, 1991). Asimov and Frank White were credited as the authors, although the copyright was held by Asimov only, and White's name is in smaller letters on the cover. In his posthumous autobiography '' I. Asimov: A Memoir'', Asimov says that he completed the book by himself (under the

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

''The Next Millennium''). The book is a history of the world from 8000 BC to the present day,

millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

by millennium, with a further chapter speculating about what life is likely to be like in the year 3000 AD. This idea was suggested by editor Beth Walker in 1989.''ibid'' This book has 196 pages; ''Asimov's Chronology of the World'' has 675.

References

External links

''Asimov's Chronology of the World'' at Asimovreviews.net

1991 non-fiction books Big History Books by Isaac Asimov Universal history books 20th-century history books HarperCollins books {{hist-book-stub