A History of Civilizations by Fernand Braudel

Written from a consciously anti-enthnocentric approach, this fascinating work is a survey of the civilizations of the modern world in terms of the broad sweep and continuities of history, rather than the “event-based” technique of most other texts.

Fernand Braudel (1901-1985), the most celebrated French historian of the postwar era, taught at the Collège de France and was a member of the École Pratique des Hautes Études. His widely acclaimed works include A History of Civilizations, On History, The Structures of Everyday Life, and The Wheels of Commerce.