Most Popular Books by David Christian

A history of the world from the big bang to the present. "Big history" is a new approach to world history that joins the history of the world as a physical entity to human history. David Christian is the leading proponent of this approach to world history.

This New York Times bestseller "elegantly weaves evidence and insights . . . into a single, accessible historical narrative" (Bill Gates) and presents a captivating history of the universe -- from the Big Bang to dinosaurs to mass globalization and beyond. Most historians study the smallest slivers of time, emphasizing specific dates, individuals, and documents. But what would it look like to study the whole of history, from the big bang through the present day -- and even into the remote future? How would looking at the full span of time change the way we perceive the universe, the earth, and our very existence? These were the questions David Christian set out to answer when he created the field of "Big History," the most exciting new approach to understanding where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. In Origin Story, Christian takes readers on a wild ride through the entire 13.8 billion years we''ve come to know as "history." By focusing on defining events (thresholds), major trends, and profound questions about our origins, Christian exposes the hidden threads that tie everything together -- from the creation of the planet to the advent of agriculture, nuclear war, and beyond. With stunning insights into the origin of the universe, the beginning of life, the emergence of humans, and what the future might bring, Origin Story boldly reframes our place in the cosmos.

"A great historian can make clear the connections between the first Homo sapiens and today''s version of the species, and a great storyteller can make those connections come alive. David Christian is both, and This Fleeting World: A Short History of Humanity, makes the journey--from the earliest foraging era to the agrarian era to our own modern era--a fascinating one. Ready to help your students give up their preconceptions that anything old is probably boring? Enter This Fleeting World."--From publisher description.

It is impossible to make sense of the modern world without understanding the vast, and ultimately unsuccessful, experiment with Communism that began in Russia in 1917. Imperial and Soviet Russia offers a coherent interpretation of the turbulent history of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union during the last two centuries. Tracing the roots of the Communist experiment in the peasant world of traditional Russia, it shows how the harsh social and economic changes of the nineteenth century created enough dislocation to topple the tsarist regime and bring the Bolsheviks to power in 1917.

It has been a church, a mosque and a synagogue. Jesus is said to have dined there. James, his brother, is believed to have been interred there. King David may be buried beneath its floor. The subject of intense speculation by both scholars and the faithful, the Cenacle on Mount Zion--also known as the Upper Room of the New Testament gospels and as the Tomb of David--has remained a mystery for centuries. Claimed by Jews, Christians and Muslims, the sacred structure continues to evoke passionate controversy. Does it date back to the time of Christ? Was the Last Supper celebrated there? Is this the place where the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles on the first Pentecost following Easter Sunday? Did King David''s remains ever lie there? These and many other questions are explored in this first-ever study, offering a readable, fully researched narrative account of the Cenacle''s history, archaeology and imagery. Artistic, architectural and photographic illustrations document the Cenacle and its surroundings over the past 1,500 years.

The New York Times bestselling author of Origin Story, who Bill Gates has “long been a fan of,” turns his attention to the future of humanity — and how we think about it — in this ambitious book. The future is uncertain, a bit spooky, possibly dangerous, maybe wonderful. We cope with this never-ending uncertainty by telling stories about the future, future stories. How do we construct those stories? Where is the future, the place where we set those stories? Can we trust our future stories? And what sort of futures do they show us? This book is about future stories and future thinking, about how we prepare for the future. Think of it as a sort of User’s Guide to the Future. We all need such a guide because the future is where we will spend the rest of our lives. David Christian, historian and author of Origin Story, is renowned for pioneering the emerging discipline of Big History, which surveys the whole of the past. But with Future Stories, he casts his sharp analytical eye forward, offering an introduction to the strange world of the future, and a guide to what we think we know about it at all scales, from the individual to the cosmological. Christian consults theologians, philosophers, scientists, statisticians, and scholars from a huge range of places and times as he explores how we prepare for uncertain futures, including the future of human evolution, artificial intelligence, interstellar travel, and more. By linking the study of the past much more closely to the study of the future, we can begin to imagine what the world will look like in a hundred years and consider solutions to the biggest challenges facing us all.

A scholar among the laity, anonymous author David Christian, in checking the text amongst the ordained, received positive feedback including the following: Ernie (38 years of church pastoral leadership) wrote, Book is remarkable with more knowledge of biblical literature and history than most ministers including yours truly. Laurie (pastor of a small local church) offered For your fun and engaging approach abundant praise. And know that its a fine book to use with small groups. Wayne (ordained seminary professor) calls it a thesaurus of great reading, good thinking, and delightfully provocative writing. The goal of the book is to motivate saving the many Christian churches from themselves so that in unity the Church will motivate saving the world from itself. We dont have a lot of time.

Big History: Between Nothing and Everything surveys the past not just of humanity, or even of planet Earth, but of the entire universe. In reading this book instructors and students will retrace a voyage that began 13.7 billion years ago with the Big Bang and the appearance of the universe. Big history incorporates findings from cosmology, earth and life sciences, and human history, and assembles them into a single, universal historical narrative of our universe and of our place within it.ËË The first edition of Big History: Between Nothing and Everything, is written by the pioneers of the field, and presents a framework for learning about anything and everything. It encourages students to think critically about our cumulative history and the future of the world through a variety of lenses.

Bread and Salt - a literal translation of the Russian word for hospitality - explores the social and economic implications of eating and drinking in Russia in the thousand years before 1900. Eating and drinking are viewed here as social activities which involves the economics of production, storage and distribution of food stuffs. These activities attract both social controls and state taxation; in this way the everyday process of eating and drinking is linked with the history of Russia. The dominance of grain in the diet throughout the period and the importance of salt, as implied in the title, are dealt with, as are the early Russian beer-drinking fraternities. The relatively late introduction of spirits, in the from of vodka, and it disastrous consequences in social terms are described. Tea and the samovar, also much more a latecomer than is generally realized, did little to diminish excessive drinking. Drinking, in any event, was by no means discourage by the state, since it was a major source of state income. The final section of the book looks at rural diets in the nineteenth century, when some variation and new items, such as the potato, became important. At the same time, peasants depended basically on the grain crop, as they had for thousands of years. Forced by txation to enter the market, afflicted by severe famines towards the end of the century, many peasants ate and drank no better as a result of the modernization of the county.

The U.S. Army''s youngest and most decorated officer in Vietnam tells his extraordinary story. Christian, code-named Victor Six, turned a misfit Army recon platoon into one of the most acclaimed units of the Vietnam War--and later needed 33 operations for napalm burns. Christian later became a champion of veteran''s rights and gave the final dedication at the Vietnam Memorial. Photographs.

This bold, new look at the apostle Paul will challenge longtime thinking about the “apostle to the gentiles.” Unfortunately, common misperceptions and outdated characterizations continue to prevail in mainstream teaching and preaching about Paul. Meet Paul Again for the First Time introduces readers to a brand-new Paul which, as it turns out, was the original Paul all along. With clarity and purpose, Clausen rejects unfounded preconceptions about the apostle. For example, he did not teach a “law-free gospel,” he did not reject Judaism or the law, and he did not see himself as a miserable sinner who found forgiveness only in Christ. Based on a reappraisal of first-century Judaism, recognition of the pagan targets of Paul’s mission, and an appreciation for Paul’s skill as a Greco-Roman rhetorician and interpreter of Jewish scripture, Meet Paul Again brings consistency and clarity to critical Pauline concepts including the new covenant, works of the law, preservation and deliverance, the future of Israel, and the status of gentiles in God’s family. Paul’s was a mission of inclusiveness. His primary objective was to preserve sinning gentiles from God’s wrath, and welcome them in worship beside their Jewish brothers and sisters, before the imminent arrival of the great and terrible Day of the Lord.

Provides an all-encompassing look at the history of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia Beginning with the breakup of the Mongol Empire in the mid-thirteenth century, Volume II of this comprehensive work covers the remarkable history of “Inner Eurasia,” from 1260 up to modern times, completing the story begun in Volume I. Volume II describes how agriculture spread through Inner Eurasia, providing the foundations for new agricultural states, including the Russian Empire. It focuses on the idea of “mobilization”—the distinctive ways in which elite groups mobilized resources from their populations, and how those methods were shaped by the region’s distinctive ecology, which differed greatly from that of “Outer Eurasia,” the southern half of Eurasia and the part of Eurasia most studied by historians. This work also examines how fossil fuels created a bonanza of energy that helped shape the history of the Communist world during much of the twentieth century. Filled with figures, maps, and tables to help give readers a fuller understanding of what has transpired over 750 years in this distinctive world region, A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia: Volume II: Inner Eurasia from the Mongol Empire to Today, 1260-2000 is a magisterial but accessible account of this area’s past, that will offer readers new insights into the history of an often misunderstood part of the world. Situates the histories of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia within the larger narrative of world history Concentrates on the idea of Inner Eurasia as a coherent ecological and geographical zone Focuses on the powerful ways in which the region’s geography shaped its history Places great emphasis on how “mobilization” played a major part in the development of the regions Offers a distinctive interpretation of modernity that highlights the importance of fossil fuels Offers new ways of understanding the Soviet era A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia: Volume II is an ideal book for general audiences and for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in world history. The Blackwell History of the World Series The goal of this ambitious series is to provide an accessible source of knowledge about the entire human past, for every curious person in every part of the world. It will comprise some two dozen volumes, of which some provide synoptic views of the history of particular regions while others consider the world as a whole during a particular period of time. The volumes are narrative in form, giving balanced attention to social and cultural history (in the broadest sense) as well as to institutional development and political change. Each provides a systematic account of a very large subject, but they are also both imaginative and interpretative. The Series is intended to be accessible to the widest possible readership, and the accessibility of its volumes is matched by the style of presentation and production.

This is a study of the social, economic, and political role of Vodka in nineteenth-century Russia. Since the `Green Serpent'' first appeared in sixteenth-century Muscovy, it has played a vital part in Russian life. Vodka became an essential part of Russian working-class celebrations: personal, religious, and commercial. Trade in Vodka redistributed wealth upwards through Russian society over several centuries. Indeed, Russia''s status as a great power was underpinned by it: by the nineteenth century, it generated one-third of government revenue - enough to cover most of the costs of the vast army. The dependence on Vodka of both people and state has endured into the Gorbachev era. But despite Vodka''s key role in Russian history, and the complex network of corruption associated with it, the subject has been ignored by most historians until now. This study concentrates on an important transitional era in the history of Vodka: the early nineteenth century. During this period, Vodka taxes played the role that salt taxes had played in the ancien r--eacute--;gime in France. The abolition of the tax farm in 1863 should be seen as one of the most important of the `Great Reforms'' of the 1860s, an era which, in many ways, parallels the glasnost of the 1980s.

"An integrated view of the history of our global community from a 21st-century perspective, with a focus on environmental and social issues. The 580 articles, edited and written by scholars around the world, examine connections and interactions made over time (and across cultures and locales) through trade, warfare, migration, religion, and diplomacy"--Provided by publisher.

Revised edition of a book first published in 1986. This edition has been updated and expanded to include new chapters on the Brezhnev era and perestroika and to take into account the dissolution of the Soviet system. The text is well illustrated and is supported by a statistical appendix, an annotated bibliography, a glossary, chronology and an index.

Wir feiern zu Recht menschliche Kreativität, Innovation und Unternehmertum, doch allzu oft sind unsere Erfolge in Wissenschaft und Technologie mit einem enormen Preis für unsere Umwelt und damit auch unsere Zukunft verbunden. Die menschliche Geschichte war weitaus häufiger von Konflikten und Verzweiflung als von Fürsorge, Liebe und Koexistenz geprägt – es wäre ein Leichtes, sie als eine Geschichte tragischer Hybris zu lesen. Doch die Geschichte ist hier nicht zu Ende. Wir stehen an der Schwelle zur Zukunft und fragen uns, wie die Würfel fallen werden. Wir wetten mit der Nachwelt, dass der menschliche Einfallsreichtum, die Intelligenz und Anpassungsfähigkeit stark genug sein werden, um eine ganz andere Zukunft hervorzubringen. Prix Pictet. Human zeigt über 100 herausragende Werke zeitgenössischer Fotografie von vielen der weltweit renommiertesten Fotograf*innen, die sich mit dem bewusst weitgefassten und ambivalenten Themenkomplex konzeptuell auseinandersetzen.

This book presents the history of globalization as a network-based story in the context of Big History. Departing from the traditional historic discourse, in which communities, cities, and states serve as the main units of analysis, the authors instead trace the historical emergence, growth, interconnection, and merging of various types of networks that have gradually encompassed the globe. They also focus on the development of certain ideas, processes, institutions, and phenomena that spread through those networks to become truly global. The book specifies five macro-periods in the history of globalization and comprehensively covers the first four, from roughly the 9th – 7th millennia BC to World War I. For each period, it identifies the most important network-related developments that facilitated (or even spurred on) such transitions and had the greatest impacts on the history of globalization. By analyzing the world system''s transition to new levels of complexity and connectivity, the book provides valuable insights into the course of Big History and the evolution of human societies.

Sipa - The man who followed the bees is an amazing, enchanting and deep tale of a man''s life journey. Starting when Sipa turns 14 and follows him all the way to his 50th year. This short story takes you on the adventurous path of Sipa who seeks both earthly progress and spiritual development and who at crucial moments in his life is guided by the bees. Ann Macmillan says about it: "The genre of this book is reminiscent of those of the ‘Tales by Trees’ series. Christian’s story is tiny, but powerful in the telling; it could be read within the space of a train journey yet the images created through Sipa''s journey will last much longer! The bees with whom Sipa connects as a young man, lead him through extraordinary life-experiences before finally seemingly to desert him. At that crucial moment Sipa understands what the Bees are telling him: that he is responsible now for creating his own next challenge which turns out to be the most herculean task of his life. Destiny allows him enough time to see the first seeds of his efforts germinate, and that''s when he hears once again, the returning sound of his friends. . . This is an exceptional allegorical tale that I couldn''t put down till it was finished--it will remain in my memory for a long time to come!" Here a short extract from Christian Gruetzmacher’s (honey-bee-lover-researcher and founder of the Bee-Observatory: bee-observatory.org) debut: "…. All along that lane there were thousands of flowers on the ground, the shrubs and bushes, and now within that abundance there were bees, bees everywhere, many more than usual. All sorts of bees! Big ones, small ones, furry ones, shiny ones - and they all seemed to be busier and louder than they usually were. Sipa liked that. He thought: “Maybe it’s a good sign!” So, he speeded up, walking very briskly along this forest lane, noticing all the time that the bees were always there, no matter how fast he walked - they were around him all the time! He took that as a clear sign and decided that he would follow the bees no matter where they would lead him, and he did - all day long!"

A Samurai arrives in England intent on conquering the world of London Prizefighting. But there is much more to the young warrior Datte than at first meets the eye. Haunted by the ghosts of his past and spurred on by the hope of saving someone he loves, Datte must master the brutal, beautiful art of Boxing or die trying.In front of him lies his first challenge, but many more will come.Written by David Christian, creator of the popular youtube channel The Modern Martial Artist and author of the best selling technique book Footwork Wins Fights, Mortal Weapons is the beginning of an epic journey that spans multiple continents and showcases several unique and diverse disciplines. Illustrated by Emon Maki Rashid, full-time karate instructor and artist. Utilizing his knowledge of traditional martial arts along with his art skills allowed him to draw the dynamic movements of Mortal Weapons. Mortal Weapons seamlessly blends the feel of a classic Kung Fu Movie and a Sports Anime. It showcases real techniques and strategies used by the worlds greatest fighters today, while emerging the reader in a narrative full of drama, humor and violence.

The first comprehensive book on footwork in martial arts covers everything you need to know to take your training to the next level. Footwork Wins Fights goes into great detail on everything you need to know about footwork, from: *Body Mechanics Basic and Clear Rules on how to move efficiently. *Comprehensive List of Footwork