A Very Short History of the World is the story of the world's people during the last four million years. It begins before human beings moved out of Africa to explore and settle the other continents. It is a story of the inhabited world being pulled apart, and of it coming together again in recent centuries. Blainey recreates human experience in its astoundingly varied forms, describing human life at both its grandest and most domestic levels: covering amazing discoveries and powerful empires, and changes in diet, daily life work and sport. In A Very Short History of the World, Blainey takes his masterful account of human history and abridges it to make a compelling and hugely accessible work of history.