Books in the Exploring World History series

David Ringrose looks beyond the traditional history of European expansion-which highlights European conquests, empire building, and hegemony-in order to explore the more human and genuinely cross-cultural dimensions of Europeans abroad before 1750.

This compelling book persuasively links the Cold War and struggles against imperial rule. The authors provide a cogent and concise description of the post-World War II era and reveal the strong links between the Cold War and anti-colonialism movements.

Traces the transformation of the tropics in modern times. Exploring the central role of the US in the devastation of tropical lands, this title highlights the pressure caused by the demands of US consumerism. It includes a series of case studies of sugar, bananas, coffee, rubber, beef, and timber.

Plagues in World History provides a concise, comparative world history of catastrophic infectious diseases, including plague, smallpox, tuberculosis, cholera, influenza, and AIDS. John Aberth considers not only their varied impact but also the many ways in which people have been able to influence diseases simply through their cultural attitudes. Our ability to alter disease, even without modern medical treatments, is even more crucial lesson now that AIDS, swine flu, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, and other seemingly incurable illnesses have raged worldwide. The author''s comparative analysis of how different societies have responded in the past to disease illuminates what cultural approaches have been and may continue to be most effective in combating the plagues of today.

The World Cup as World History uses football's premier event to analyze modern sports and world history. Bowman traces the history of a tournament that has become a global phenomenon that generates intense political, economic, and cultural interest and profound discussions about racial, ethnic, and gender identity in the contemporary era.