Fernand Braudel rejected a narrow focus on Western warfare, diplomacy and power politics, and opened up economic and social history to influences from anthropology, sociology, geography, psychology and linguistics. In this book, Braudel examines the nature of cultures and civilizations, their continuities and transformations. He then goes on to survey the broad historical developments in almost every corner of the globe: the Muslim world - from the rise of Islam to post-colonial revival; Black Africa - from the slave trade to the dilemmas of development; the Far East - from the collapse of the Roman Empire to political union; the European civilizations of the New World - Latin America and the USA; the English-speaking universe - Canada, Southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand; and the other Europe - Russia, the USSR and the CIS.