Most people''s knowledge of world history is hazy and incomplete at best. This updated No-Nonsense Guide gives a full picture, revealing the hidden histories and communities left out of conventional history books—from the civilizations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America to the history of women. The new final chapter includes material on the financial crisis and the world response to climate change.

Chris Brazier is co-editor at New Internationalist. His previous books include Vietnam: The Price of Peace. He is principal writer for UNICEF''s The State of the World''s Children report.

Here are fifty concise, entertaining histories on a broad, eclectic range of ideas (borders, feminism), global issues (migration, world trade), commodities (bananas, jeans), regions (Africa, Ireland), and institutions (corporations, the World Bank).

Lucid and irreverent, Brief Histories of Almost Anything challenges common perceptions associated with the subjects by going behind the facts. Each history has been selected from the New Internationalist magazine, a leading authority on alternative history and “Best International Coverage” winner in the Utne Reader Independent Press Awards.

Edited by Chris Brazier, author of the best-selling No-Nonsense Guide to World History.

Most people''s knowledge of world history is hazy and incomplete at best. This updated No-Nonsense Guide gives a full picture, revealing the hidden histories and communities left out of conventional history books—from the civilizations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America to the history of women. The new final chapter includes material on the financial crisis and the world response to climate change.

Chris Brazier is co-editor at New Internationalist. His previous books include Vietnam: The Price of Peace. He is principal writer for UNICEF''s The State of the World''s Children report.

Here are fifty concise, entertaining histories on a broad, eclectic range of ideas (borders, feminism), global issues (migration, world trade), commodities (bananas, jeans), regions (Africa, Ireland), and institutions (corporations, the World Bank).

Lucid and irreverent, Brief Histories of Almost Anything challenges common perceptions associated with the subjects by going behind the facts. Each history has been selected from the New Internationalist magazine, a leading authority on alternative history and “Best International Coverage” winner in the Utne Reader Independent Press Awards.

Edited by Chris Brazier, author of the best-selling No-Nonsense Guide to World History.